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(EDI  TED  BY 

USTIN  H.  MOORE 


OCT  4    1920 


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Moore,  Justin  H.  b 

The  world  beyond 


1884, 


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THE  WORLD  BEYOND 


THE 
WORLD  BEYOND 

Passages  from  Oriental 
and  Primitive  Religions 


COMPILED  AND  ARRANGED 
BY  ^ 

JUSTIN  HARTLEY  MOORE 


OCT  'i    1920  ' 


NEW  YORK 
THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1920 
By  THOMAS  Y.  CKOWELL  COMPANY 


To 

JOHN  HERMAN  RANDALL 

Prophet 

Sage 

and 

Friend 


•  ♦ 


EDITOR'S  NOTE 

Sincere  acknowledgment  and  thanks  are  made  to 
many  publishers  for  kind  permission  to  use  in  this  boot 
extracts  from  copyright  publications.  The  selections 
have  been  adapted  and  in  part  rewritten  for  the  sake 
of  clarity  and  conciseness.  A  tribute  is  due  also  to 
the  patient  toil  of  a  host  of  scholars,  most  of  whom 
have  now  passed  away,  whose  painstaking  researches 
have  revealed  an  underlying  unity  in  all  the  religious 
aspiration  of  humanity  throughout  the  world. 


FOREWORD 

Science  only  serves  to  widen  the  horizon  of  religious 
wonder,  and  in  viewing  the  records  which  are  pre- 
served of  man's  religious  thought,  present  even  in  the 
most  primitive  tribes,  we  find  traces  of  mystic  aware- 
ness of  the  spirit  of  God  always  near  at  hand.  Thus 
the  sayings  of  the  greatest  of  the  mystics,  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  take  on  an  added  significance  when  they  are 
found  to  accord  with  the  aspirations  of  many  who 
lived  before  His  time  and  many  who  followed  Him. 
In  such  unity  of  purpose  in  reaching  out  toward  the 
Unseen  is  the  best  proof  of  the  brotherhood  of  man, 
the  essential  oneness  of  humanity  throughout  the  ages. 
We  hope  in  subsequent  volumes  to  cull  other  living 
pages  on  different  religious  themes  from  the  mass  of 
material  now  available. 


New  York  City^  1^20, 


Justin  H.  Moore. 


CONTENTS 

THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

PAOB 

Death  a  Process  of  Adaptation  and  the  Price  of  Sex      15 

The  Land  of  the  Dead 18 

Death  is  Near .20 

Prayer  to  Osiris  for  Everlasting  Life  ...  .  .22 
Wek-Wek  Returns  from  the  Underworld     ...      24 

None  Shall  Abide 27 

When  First  Separated  from  the  Body   .        .        .        .31 

The  Various  Hells .      34 

Ministers  of  Evil 3^ 

Karma,  the  Law  of  Consequences 41 

When  the  Body  Dies 43 

Hell  a  State  of  Mind 45 

Sin  Not  Fully  Realized  Until  After  Death         .        .      47 

Life  Stained  by  Sin .        -49 

Not  Everyone  Shall  Have  Eternal  Life  .  .  .  51 
Love  the  Condition  of  Immortality  .  .  .  '53 
The  Old  Persian  Worship         ......      54- 

The  Buddha's  Rest 57 

Survival  of  Consciousness 59 

There  is  no  Soul 64 

What  the  Senses  do  not  Reveal  Cannot  Exist     .        .      66 

The  Soul  Liveth 68 

Faith  as  a  Faculty 7^ 

The  Unseen  Bond 72 

The  Grave  is  the  Curtain  of  Paradise  ....      74 

Omnipresent  Yet  Elusive 76 

Beyond  the  Veil 77 

II 


12  CONTENTS 

THE  HIGHEE  KNOWLEDGE 

Genius  and  Inspiration 83 

Escape  from  the  Lesser  Self 87 

The  Mystery  of  Sleep       .                89 

Sleep 9' 

The  Source  of  Life 93 

The  Sacredness  of  Memory 97 

The  Atomic  Size  of  the  Soul 100 

What  is  the  Soul  ? .  102 

The  Keys  of  the  Unseen 104 

The  Immanent  God 107 

Voices J09 

Love  TO  One's  Neighbor,  A  Jew 112 

The  Spiritual  Body 115 

The  Holy  Spirit 117 

Cosmic  Consciousness 120 

LIFE 

Conscious  Life 125 

What  is  Your  Life?    It  is  Even  as  a  Vapor  .       .        .128 

Life  and  Death 131 

A  Mohammedan  Legend 132 

Nearer  to  the  Source  of  Life 134 

The  Stuff  of  the  World  and  the  Fountain  of  Cre- 
ation        137 

Omnipresence 139 

The  Pulse  of  Life 142 


The  World  Beyond 


.WHOEVER  WOULD  SAVE  HIS  LIFE  SHALL 

LOSE  IT 

Death  is  a  Process  of  Adaptation 
and  is  the  Price  of  Sex 

Creatures  composed  of  a  single  cell,  protophytes  and 
protozoa,  algae  and  unicellular  mushrooms,  with  a 
minimum  of  differentiation,  escape  the  necessity  of 
death.  .  .  .  They  are  infinitely  vulnerable,  fragile 
and  perishable;  myriads  die  at  every  instant.  But 
their  death  is  not  ordained  by  fate.  They  may  suc- 
cumb to  accidents,  but  never  to  old  age. 

Imagine  one  of  these  creatures  placed  in  a  culture- 
medium  favorable  to  the  full  exercise  of  his  activities, 
and  of  large  enough  extent  so  as  not  to  be  affected  by 
the  tiny  quantities  of  materials  which  the  animal  may 
draw  from  it  or  excrete  into  it.  Let  it  be,  for  example, 
an  infusoria  in  the  ocean.  In  these  invariable  sur- 
roundings the  creature  lives,  grows  and  enlarges  in- 
cessantly. When  he  has  attained  the  limits  of  size 
fixed  by  his  own  specific  laws,  he  divides  in  two  parts 
equal  in  all  respects  to  each  other.  He  allows  one  of 
these  halves  to  colonize  in  his  vicinity  and  himself 

15 


i6  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

begins  again  the  same  evolution  all  over.  There  is  no 
reason  why  the  transaction  should  not  be  indefinitely 
repeated,  since  nothing  has  changed  either  in  the  sur- 
rounding nor  in  the  animal  himself.    ,     .    . 

Thus  immortality  belongs  in  principle  to  all  the 
protista  whose  reproduction  takes  place  by  means  of 
simple  and  equal  division.  If  we  note  that  these  rudi- 
mentary organisms,  endowed  with  perennial  existence, 
must  be  the  first  living  forms  that  appeared  on  the 
surface  of  the  globe,  and  that  they  doubtless  long 
preceded  other  creatures,  the  polycellular  organisms 
which,  on  the  contrary,  had  to  undergo  decay,  the 
conclusion  to  be  drawn  is  very  apparent:  namely,  that 
life  long  existed  without  death.  Death  has  been  a 
phenomenon  of  adaptation  appearing  in  the  course  of 
the  ages  as  a  consequence  of  the  evolution  of  species. 

It  may  be  asked  at  what  moment  of  the  history  of 
our  globe,  at  what  period  in  the  evolution  of  fauna, 
this  novelty,  death,  made  its  appearance.  The  famous 
experiments  of  Maupas  upon  the  senescence  of  in- 
fusoria seems  to  permit  of  a  precise  answer  to  this 
question.  Relying  upon  these  experiments,  we  may 
say  that  death  must  have  appeared  as  a  kind  of  convoy 
along  with  sexual  reproduction.  Death  became  possi- 
ble when  this  process  of  generation  was  established. 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  17 

not  in  all  its  fullness,  but  in  its  humblest  beginnings, 
under  the  rudimentary  forms  of  unequal  division  and 
conjugation.  And  this  came  when  the  infusoria  began 
to  people  the  waters. 

A.  Dastre,  "  I,a  Vie  et  la  Mort,"  p.  336,  Paris,  1916. 


BUT  I  WILL  SEE  YOU  AGAIN  AND  YOUR 
HEART  SHALL  REJOICE 

The  Land  of  the  Dead 

The  Aztecs  of  Mexico  belong  to  the  great  Nihautl  stock  of 
Western  North  America,  whose  institutions,  language  and 
aristocracy  were  well-nigh  exterminated  by  the  Spanish  con- 
quistadores.  Only  a  few  songs  and  legends  have  been  saved 
from  oblivion. 

Weeping,  I,  the  singer,  weave  my  song  of  flowers, 
of  sadness;  I  call  to  memory  the  youths,  the  shards, 
the  fragments,  gone  to  the  land  of  the  dead ;  once  noble 
and  powerful  here  on  earth,  the  youths  were  dried  up 
like  feathers,  were  split  into  fragments  like  an  emerald, 
before  the  face  and  in  the  sight  of  those  who  saw  them 
on  earth,  and  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Cause  of  All. 

Alas !  alas !     I  sing  in  grief  as  I  recall  the  children. 

Would  that  I  could  turn  back  again;  would  that  I 

could  grasp  their  hands  once  more ;  would  that  I  could 

call  them  forth  from  the  land  of  the  dead ;  would  that 

we  could  bring  them  again  on  earth,  that  they  might 

rejoice  and  we  rejoice,  and  that  they  might  rejoice  and 

delight  the  Giver  of  Life;  is  it  possible  that  we  His 

i8 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  19 

servants  should  reject  Him  or  should  be  ungrateful? 
Thus  I  weep  in  my  heart  as  I,  the  singer,  review  my 
memories,  recalling  things  sad  and  grievous. 

Would  only  that  I  knew  they  could  hear  me,  there  in 
the  land  of  the  dead,  were  I  to  sing  some  worthy  song. 
Would  that  I  could  gladden  them,  that  I  could  console 
the  suffering  and  the  torment  of  the  children.  How 
can  it  be  learned?  Whence  can  I  draw  the  inspira- 
tion ?  They  are  not  where  I  may  follow  them ;  neither 
can  I  reach  them  with  my  calling  as  one  here  on  earth. 

D.  G.  Brinton,  "Ancient  Nihuatl  Poetry,"  p.  73. 


THE  NIGHT  COMETH  WHEN  NO  MAN  CAN 

WORK 

Death  is  Near 

Every  Egyptian  mummy-case  has  a  pair  of  eyes  painted  on 
the  exterior  so  that  the  wandering  ka  or  soul  may  return  and 
find  its  previous  body.  A  curious  dialogue  is  extant  of  a 
misanthrope  talking  with  his  soul,  some  fifteen  centuries 
before  Job. 

Death  is  before  me  today 

Like  the  recovery  of  a  sick  man, 

Like  going  forth  into  a  garden  after  sickness. 

Death  is  before  me  today 

Like  the  odor  of  myrrh, 

Like  sitting  under  the  sail  on  a  windy  day. 

Death  is  before  me  today 

Like  the  odor  of  lotus  flov^ers, 

Like  sitting  on  the  shore  of  drunkenness. 

Death  is  before  me  today 

Like  the  course  of  the  freshet, 

Like  the  return  of  a  man  from  the  war-galley  to 

his  house. 

20 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  2i 

Death  is  before  me  today 
Like  the  clearing  of  the  sky, 
Like  a  man  fowhng  therein  toward  that  which 
he  knew  not. 

Death  is  before  me  today 

As  a  man  longs  to  see  his  house 

When  he  has  spent  years  in  captivity. 

J.  H.  Breasted,  "  Development  of  Religion  and  Thought  in 
Ancient  Egypt,"  p.  195,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  N.  Y., 
1913. 


AND  IN  THE  WORLD  TO  COME,  LIFE 

EVERLASTING 

Prayer  to  Osiris  for  Everlasting  Life 

At  an  early  date  in  Egypt,  the  god  Osiris  became  the  friend 
and  comforter  who  would  sustain  the  wraith-like  souls  in 
the  underworld  and  keep  guard  over  them  until  the  resurrec- 
tion. 

Homage  to  thee,  O  my  divine  father  Osiris,  thou 
livest  with  thy  members.  Thou  didst  not  decay. 
Thou  didst  not  turn  into  worms.  Thou  didst  not 
waste  away.  Thou  didst  not  suffer  corruption.  Thou 
didst  not  putrefy.  I  am  the  god  Khepera,  and  my 
members  shall  have  an  everlasting  existence.  I  shall 
not  decay.  I  shall  not  rot.  I  shall  not  putrefy.  I 
shall  not  turn  into  worms.  I  shall  not  see  corruption 
before  the  eye  of  the  god  Shu.  I  shall  have  my  being, 
I  shall  have  being.  I  shall  live,  I  shall  live.  I  shall 
flourish,  I  shall  flourish.  I  shall  wake  up  in  peace. 
I  shall  not  putrefy.  My  inward  parts  shall  not  perish. 
I  shall  not  suffer  injury.  Mine  eye  shall  not  decay. 
The  form  of  my  visage  shall  not  disappear.  Mine  ear 
shall  not  become  deaf.     My  head  shall  not  be  sepa- 

22 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  23 

rated  from  my  neck.  My  tongue  shall  not  be  carried 
away.  My  hair  shall  not  be  cut  off.  Mine  eyebrows 
shall  not  be  shaved  off.  No  baleful  injury  shall  come 
upon  me.  My  body  shall  be  established,  and  it  shall 
neither  crumble  away  nor  be  destroyed  on  this  earth. 

E.    A.    Wallis    Budge,    "The    Literature    of   tlie 
Ancient  Egyptians,"  p.  55. 


HE  ASKED  THEM:  DO  YE  NOW  BELIEVE? 

Wek-Wek  Returns  from  the  Underworld 

Fifty-four  different  American  Indian  languages  are  known, 
witii  various  dialects  thereof  in  addition.  In  civilization  the 
American  Indians  belonged  to  the  Stone  Age.  The  Mewan 
tribe  live  to-day  on  government  reservations  in  California. 

After  Wek-wek  had  sent  his  sister  home  he  stayed 
near  the  caves  below  Koo-loo-te  and  dug  holes  in  the 
sand  and  found  roots  and  seeds  that  were  good  to  eat. 
In  digging  he  came  to  a  very  deep  hole  which  led  down 
under  the  world ;  he  went  down  this  hole  and  when  he 
reached  the  underworld  found  other  people  there, 
and  got  a  wife  with  a  little  boy.  Besides  his  wife 
there  were  To-to-kon  the  Sandhill  Crane,  Wah-ah  the 
Heron,  Cha-poo-kah-lah  the  Blackbird,  and  others. 

To-to-kon  the  Sandhill  Crane  was  chief.  When  he 
saw  Wek-wek  he  said,  "  What  shall  we  do  with  this 
man?  he  is  lost;  we  had  better  kill  him." 

Wek-wek  saw  a  man  made  ready  with  his  bow  and 

arrow,  and  invited  him  to  come  and  eat.     The  man 

came  and  ate,  and  when  his  belly  was  full  went  back. 

Captain  To-to-kon  said,  "  I  didn't  send  you  to  eat, 

24 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  25 

but  to  kill  him."  Then  he  sent  another,  and  Wek-wek 
asked  him  also  to  come  and  eat,  and  he  did  as  the  other 
had  done.  Then  Captain  To-to-kon  sent  two  men  to- 
gether to  kill  him,  but  Wek-wek  called  them  both  to 
come  and  eat,  and  they  did  so.  Then  To-to-kon  was 
angry ;  he  sent  no  more  men  but  went  himself  and  took 
his  bow  and  arrow. 

Wek-wek  said  to  him,  "  Come  in,"  whereupon  To- 
to-kon  shot  his  arrow  but  missed. 

Then  Wek-wek  came  out  and  faced  the  people. 
They  fired  all  their  arrows  but  could  not  kill  him. 
Wek-wek  said,  "  You  can't  kill  me  with  arrows. 
Have  you  a  pot  big  enough  to  hold  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  they  answered. 

"  Then  set  it  up  and  put  me  in  it,"  he  said. 

And  they  did  as  they  were  told  and  put  Wek-wek  in 
the  hot  pot  and  put  the  cover  on.  When  he  was 
burned  they  took  out  the  burnt  bones  and  buried  them 
in  the  ground. 

Ah-ut  the  Crow  missed  his  uncle  and  went  to  his 
uncle's  partner,  Hoo-loo-e,  who  was  in  the  hole  crying, 
and  asked  where  Wek-wek  was.  Hoo-loo-e  pointed 
down  the  hole.  Ah-ut  went  down  and  found  the 
rancheria  of  the  underworld  people  and  killed  them  all. 
He  then  asked  Wek-wek's  wife  where  Wek-wek  was. 


26  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

She  answered  that  the  people  had  burned  and  buried 
him. 

Wek-wek  stayed  in  the  ground  five  days  and  then 
came  to  life ;  he  came  out  and  asked  his  wife  where  the 
people  were.  She  told  him  that  Ah-ut  had  come  and 
killed  them  all.  "  That  is  too  bad,"  he  exclaimed,  ''  I 
wanted  to  show  them  what  kind  of  man  I  am."  Then 
he  said  she  should  stay  there  and  he  would  take  the 
boy  and  go  home. 

She  answered,  "All  right." 

Then  he  shot  his  arrow  up  through  the  hole  and 
caught  hold  of  it,  and  held  the  boy  also,  and  the  arrow 
carried  them  both  up  to  the  upper  world. 

C.  Hart  Merriam,  "  Dawn  of  the  World,"  p.  197,  Cleve- 
land, 1910.  (Copyright:  The  Arthur  H.  Clark  Co.,  by 
Permission.) 


BE  IT  UNTO  THEE  EVEN  AS  THOU  WILT 

None  Shall  Abide 

In  Southern  India  live  the  Tamil  people  who  probably  are 
descended  from  an  aboriginal  race  native  to  that  country  at 
the  time  of  the  great  Aryan  Invasion  from  the  Northwest  (in 
the  second  millennium  B.  C).  Current  to-day  are  many 
quatrains  of  great  literary  beauty,  although  filled  with  resig- 
nation and  despair. 

The  things  of  which  you  said,  "  they  stand,  they 
stand,"  stand  not ;  mark  this,  and  perform  what  befits, 
yea !  what  befits,  with  all  your  power !  Your  days  are 
gone,  are  gone!  and  death  close  pressing  on  is  come, 
is  come ! 

When  you  have  gained  and  hold  in  hand  any  single 
thing,  retain  it  not  with  the  thought,  "  This  will  serve 
some  other  day ! "  Those  who  have  given  betimes 
shall  escape  the  desert  road  along  which  death,  an  un- 
yielding foe,  drags  his  captives  away. 

Severed  are  the  ties  of  friendship;  love's  bonds  are 

loosened  too ;  then  look  within  and  say,  what  profit  is 

there  in  this  joyous  life  of  thine?     The  cry  comes  up 

as  from  a  sinking  ship ! 

27 


28  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

My  mother  bare  me,  left  me  here,  and  went  to  seek 
her  mother,  who  in  the  selfsame  manner  has  gone  in 
search ;  and  thus  in  ceaseless  round  goes  on  the  mother- 
quest.     Such  is  the  grace  this  world  affords! 

As  the  measure  of  your  days  the  shining  orb  each 
day  unfailing  rises;  so  before  your  joyous  days  have 
passed  away,  perform  ye  fitting  deeds  of  grace;  for 
none  abide  on  earth. 

To  him,  who,  although  he  sees  them  bear  the  corpse 
to  the  burning  ground,  while  friends  in  troops  loudly 
lament,  boldly  asserts  that  wedded  life  is  bliss  on 
earth,  the  funeral  drum  speaks  out,  and  mocks  his 
vain  utterance. 

When  the  soul  that,  taking  its  stand  in  this  skin- 
clad  frame,  has  fully  wrought  its  works  and  partaken 
of  life's  experiences,  has  gone  forth,  what  matters  it 
whether  you  attach  ropes  to  the  body  and  drag  it  away, 
or  carefully  bury  it,  or  throw  it  aside  in  any  place  you 
light  upon,  or  if  many  revile  the  departed? 

Like  a  bubble,  that  in  pelting  rain  appears  full  oft, 
and  disappears,  is  this  our  frame.  So  sages  have 
judged,  steadfast  in  wisdom,  and  have  decided  to  end 
this  dubious  strife.  On  this  wide  earth  who  equal 
these  ? 

Those  whoVe  gained  and  held  fast  by  this  well- 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  29 

knit  frame  should  take  the  gain  the  body  they  have 
gained  is  intended  to  yield.  Like  a  cloud  that  wan- 
ders over  the  hills,  the  body  here  appears,  and  abiding 
not,  departs  leaving  no  trace  behind. 

Considering  that  all  things  are  transient  as  the  dew- 
drop  on  the  tip  of  a  blade  of  grass,  now,  now  at  once, 
do  virtuous  deeds !  "  Even  now  he  stood,  he  sat,  he 
fell, — while  his  kindred  cried  aloud,  he  died;  "  such  is 
man's  history ! 

Unasked  men  come,  appear  in  the  home  as  kinsmen, 
and  then  silently  go.  As  the  bird  silently  deserts  the 
tree  where  its  nest  yet  remains,  and  goes  far  off,  so 
these  leave  but  their  body  to  their  friends. 

Though  worthless  men  untaught  should  fret  my  soul 
and  rave  of  teeth  like  jasmine  buds  and  pearls,  shall  I 
forego  my  fixed  resolve,  who  have  seen  in  the  burning 
ground  those  bones — the  fallen  teeth — strewn  round 
for  all  to  see? 

The  skulls  of  the  dead,  at  the  sight  of  which  the 
gazer  fears,  with  deep  cavernous  eyes  appear,  and 
grinning  say  to  those  who  still  survive,  "  Guard  well ! 
In  virtue's  path  stand  fast.  This  is  the  body's  grace 
and  worth." 

The  skulls  of  the  dead,  grinning  so  as  to  excite  dis- 
gust, cure  the  vain  lovers  of  life  of  their  folly.     Those 


30  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

who  are  cured  of  this  folly,  seeing  the  skulls  in  the 
burning  ground,  say  "  such  is  this  body,"  and  so  value 
themselves  as  nothing. 

G.  V.  Pope,  Naladiyar,  "  Quatrains  in  Tamil." 


BECAUSE  I  LIVE,  YE  SHALL  LIVE  ALSO 

When  First  Separated  from  the  Body 

Zoroastrians  believe  that  fire,  earth,  water  and  air  are 
sacred  and  therefore  not  to  be  polluted  by  dead  bodies.  To 
dispose  of  them,  recourse  is  had  to  the  "  Towers  of  Silence  " 
in  Bombay,  where  the  bodies  are  exposed  to  birds  of  prey. 
The  bones  are  later  collected  and  restored  to  the  relatives. 

When  the  dogs  and  birds  tear  the  corpse  does  the 
soul  know  it,  and  does  it  occur  uncomfortably  for  it, 
or  how  is  it? 

The  reply  is  this,  that  the  pain  occasioned  by  the 
tearing  and  gnawing  so  galls  the  body  of  men  that, 
though  the  soul  were  abiding  with  the  body,  such  soul, 
which  one  knows  is  happy  and  immortal,  would  then 
depart  from  the  body,  along  with  the  animating  life, 
the  informing  consciousness,  arid  the  remaining  re- 
sources of  life. 

The  body  is  inert,  unmoving,  and  not  to  be  galled; 
and  at  last  no  pain  whatever  galls  it,  nor  is  it  perceived ; 
and  the  soul,  with  the  life,  is  outside  of  the  body,  and 
is  not  unsafe  as  regards  its  gnawing,  but  through  the 
spiritual  perception  it  sees  and  knows  it. 

31 


32  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

That  which  is  wicked  is  then  again  desirous  of  its 
bodily  existence,  and  saith:  "In  my  bodily  existence 
and  worldly  progress  there  was  no  atonement  for  sin 
and  no  accumulation  of  righteousness  and  in  the  pros- 
perity which  this  body  of  mine  had,  it  would  have  been 
possible  for  me  to  atone  for  sin  and  to  save  the  soul, 
but  now  I  am  separated  from  every  one  and  from  the 
joy  of  the  world,  which  is  great  hope  of  spiritual  life; 
and  I  have  attained  to  the  perplexing  account  and  more 
serious  danger."  And  the  gnawing  becomes  as  griev- 
ous to  it,  on  account  of  that  body,  as  a  closely-shut 
arsenal  and  a  concealed  innermost  garment  are  useless 
among  those  with  limbs  provided  with  weapons  and 
accoutrements,  and  are  destroyed. 

And  the  consciousness  of  men,  as  it  sits  three  nights 
outside  of  the  body,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  body,  has  to 
remember  and  expect  that  which  is  truly  fear  and 
trouble  unto  the  demons,  and  reward,  peace,  and  glad 
tidings  unto  the  spirits  of  the  good;  and,  on  account 
of  the  dispersion  and  injuring  of  the  body,  it  utters  a 
cry  spiritually  thus:  "  Why  do  the  dogs  and  birds  gnaw 
this  organized  body,  when  still  at  last  the  body  and 
life  unite  together  at  the  raising  of  the  dead?  "  And 
this  is  the  reminding  of  the  resurrection  and  liberation, 
and  it  becomes  the  happiness  and  hope  of  the  spirit  of 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  33 

the  body  and  the  other  good  spiiits,  and  the  fear  and 
vexation  of  the  demons  and  fiends. 

The  spirit  of  the  body,  on  account  of  being  the  spiri- 
tual life  for  the  heart  in  the  body,  is  indestructible ;  so 
is  the  will  which  resided  therein,  even  when  they  shall 
release  it  from  its  abode. 

E.  W.  West,  "  Dadistani-Dinik,"  p.  36. 


THERE  SHALL  BE  WEEPING  AND  GNASH< 

ING  OF  TEETH 

The  Various  Hells 

Hell  is  a  familiar  conception  to  most  of  the  world's  relig- 
ious systems.  It  is  found  in  all  possible  classifications  of 
dreadfulness  and  generally  resembles  the  Christian  hell,  save 
that  the  latter  is  everlastinis:  and,  on  the  whole,  hotter.  Fol- 
lowing is  a  typical  Hindu  passage: 

Now  follow  the  hells.  They  are  called:  darkness; 
complete  darkness ;  a  place  of  howling;  a  place  of  much 
howling;  a  thread  of  time  or  death;  great  hell;  a  re- 
storing to  life;  waveless;  burning;  parching;  pressing 
together;  ravens;  bud;  stinking  clay;  iron-spiked;  a 
frying-pan;  rough  or  uneven  roads;  thorny  Salmali 
trees ;  a  flame  river ;  a  sword-leaved  forest ;  iron  fetters. 

In  each  of  those  hells  successively  criminals  in  the 
highest  degree,  who  have  not  performed  the  penance 
prescribed  for  their  crime,  are  tormented  for  an  aeon 
of  time. 

There  they  are  devoured  by  dogs  and  jackals,  by 

hawks,  crows,  herons,  cranes,  and  other  carnivorous 

34 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  35 

animals,  by  bears  and  other  animals  having  fire  in  their 
mouth,  and  by  serpents  and  scorpions. 

They  are  scorched  by  blazing  fire,  pierced  by  thorns, 
divided  into  parts  by  saws,  and  tormented  by  thirst. 
They  are  agitated  by  hunger  and  by  fearful  troops  of 
tigers,  and  faint  away  at  every  step  on  account  of  the 
foul  stenches  proceeding  from  pus  and  from  blood. 
Here  they  are  boiled  in  oil,  and  there  pounded  with 
pestles,  or  ground  in  iron  or  stone  vessels.  Enveloped 
in  terrible  darkness,  they  are  devoured  by  worms  and 
jackals  and  other  horrible  animals  having  flames  in 
their  mouth. 

Again  they  are  tormented  by  frost,  or  Have  to  step 
through  unclean  things  such  as  excrements,  or  the  de- 
parted spirits  eat  one  another,  driven  to  distraction  by 
hunger. 

In  another  place,  walking  upon  thorns,  and  their 
bodies  being  encircled  by  snakes,  they  are  tormented 
with  grinding  machines,  and  dragged  on  by  their  knees. 

Their  backs,  heads,  and  shoulders  are  fractured,  the 
necks  of  these  poor  beings  are  not  stouter  than  a  needle, 
and  their  bodies,  of  a  size  fit  for  a  hut  only,  are  unable 
to  bear  torments. 

Having  thus  been  tormented  in  the  hells  and  suf- 
fered most  acute  pain,  the  sinners  have  to  endure  fur- 


36  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

ther  pangs  in  their  migration  through  animal  bodies. 
Now  after  having  suffered  the  torments  inflicted  in  the 
hells,  the  evil-doers  pass  into  animal  bodies.  Crim- 
inals in  the  highest  degree  enter  the  bodies  of  all  plants 
successively.  Mortal  sinners  enter  the  bodies  of 
worms  or  insects.  Minor  offenders  enter  the  bodies 
of  birds. 

Criminals  in  the  fourth  degree  enter  the  bodies  of 
aquatic  animals. 

Those  who  have  committed  a  crime  effecting  loss  of 
caste,  enter  the  bodies  of  amphibious  animals.  Those 
who  have  committed  a  crime  degrading  to  a  mixed 
caste,  enter  the  bodies  of  deer.  Those  who  have  com- 
mitted a  crime  rendering  them  unworthy  to  receive 
alms,  enter  the  bodies  of  cattle.  Those  who  have  com- 
mitted a  crime  causing  defilement,  enter  the  bodies  of 
low-caste  men  such  as  Kandalas,  who  may  not  be 
touched. 

One  who  has  eaten  the  food  of  one  whose  food  may 
not  be  eaten,  or  forbidden  food,  becomes  a  worm  or 
insect.  A  thief  of  other  property  than  gold,  becomes 
a  falcon.  One  who  has  appropriated  a  broad  passage, 
becomes  a  serpent  or  other  animal  living  in  holes. 

One  who  has  stolen  grain,  becomes  a  rat. 

One  who  has  stolen  water,  becomes  a  water- fowl. 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  37 

One  who  has  stolen  honey,  becomes  a  gad-fly. 

One  who  has  stolen  milk,  becomes  a  crow. 

One  who  has  stolen  juice  of  the  sugar-cane  or  other 
plants,  becomes  a  dog. 

One  who  has  stolen  clarified  butter,  becomes  an 
ichneumon. 

One  who  has  stolen  meat,  becomes  a  vulture. 

One  who  has  stolen  fat,  becomes  a  cormorant. 

One  who  has  stolen  oil,  becomes  a  cockroach. 

(Follows  a  long  list  of  other  thefts  and  punish- 
ments. ) 

Women,  who  have  committed  similar  thefts,  receive 
the  same  ignominious  punishment ;  they  become  females 
to  those  male  animals. 

J.  Jolly,  "  Institutes  of  Vishnu,"  p.  140. 


AND  IF  SATAN  RISE  UP  AGAINST  HIMSELF, 

AND  BE  DIVIDED,  HE  CANNOT  STAND, 

BUT  HATH  AN  END 

Ministers  of  Evil 

The  following  legendary  account  of  the  Master's  tempta- 
tion just  before  his  enlightenment  under  the  Bodhi  tree  is 
taken  from  the  life  of  Buddha  by  Asvagosha  (first  century 
A.  D.).  Asvagosha  was  the  St.  Paul  of  the  Mahayana  school 
in  which  form  Buddhism,  greatly  modified  since  its  founder's 
time,  was  adopted  by  China,  Korea  and  Japan,  lasting  to  this 
day. 

"  Now  must  I  assemble  my  army-host,  and  press 
him  sore  by  force."  Having  thought  thus  awhile,  The 
Tempter's  army  suddenly  assembled  round; 

Each  severally  assumed  his  own  peculiar  form ;  some 
were  holding  spears,  others  grasping  swords,  others 
snatching  up  trees,  others  wielding  diamond  maces; 
thus  were  they  armed  with  every  sort  of  weapon; 

Some  had  heads  like  hogs,  others  like  fishes,  others 
like  asses,  others  like  horses;  some  with  forms  like 
snakes  or  like  the  ox  or  savage  tiger;  lion-headed, 
dragon-headed,  and  like  every  other  kind  of  beast ; 

Some  had  many  heads  on  one  body-trunk,  with  faces 

38 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  39 

having  but  a  single  eye,  and  then  again  with  many 
eyes;  some  with  great-bellied  mighty  bodies.  And 
others  thin  and  skinny,  bellyless;  others  long-legged, 
mighty-kneed;  others  big-shanked  and  fat-calved; 
some  with  long  and  claw-like  nails.  Some  were  head- 
less, breastless,  faceless ;  some  with  two  feet  and  many 
bodies;  some  with  big  faces  looking  every  way;  some 
pale  and  ashy-colored.  Others  were  colored  like  the 
bright  rising  star,  others  steaming  fiery  vapor,  some 
with  ears  like  elephants,  with  humps  like  mountains, 
some  with  naked  forms  covered  with  hair.  Some  with 
leather  skins  for  clothing,  their  faces  party-colored, 
crimson  and  white;  some  with  tiger  skins  as  robes, 
some  with  snake  skins  over  them. 

Some  with  tinkling  bells  around  their  waists,  others 
with  twisted  screw-like  hair,  others  with  hair  di- 
shevelled covering  the  body. 

Others  body-snatchers,  some  dancing  and  shrieking 
awhile,  some  jumping  onwards  with  their  feet  together, 
some  striking  one  another  as  they  went. 

Others  waving,  wheeling  round,  in  the  air,  others 
flying  and  leaping  between  the  trees,  others  howling, 
or  hooting,  or  screaming,  or  whining,  with  their  evil 
noises  shaking  the  great  earth ; 

Thus  this  wicked  goblin  troop  encircled  on  its  four 


40  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

sides  the  Bodhi  tree ;  some  bent  on  tearing  his  body  to 
pieces,  others  on  devouring  it  whole ; 

From  the  four  sides  flames  belched  forth,  and  fiery 
steam  ascended  up  to  heaven ;  tempestuous  winds  arose 
on  every  side ;  the  mountain  forests  shook  and  quaked ; 

Wind,  fire,  and  steam,  with  dust  combined,  pro- 
duced a  pitchy  darkness,  rendering  all  invisible. 

Fiercely  staring,  grinning  with  their  teeth,  flying 
tumultuously,  bounding  here  and  there;  but  Bod- 
hisattva  (Gotama,  before  his  enlightenment  under  the 
Tree  of  Knowledge),  silently  beholding  them,  watched 
them  as  one  would  watch  the  games  of  children. 

S.  Beal,  "  Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king,"  p.  150. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  COMETH  NOT 
WITH  OBSERVATION 

Karma,  the  Law  of  Consequences 

Karma,  the  law  of  consequences,  according  to  Brahman  and 
Buddhist,  reached  into  the  next  world  wherein  each  person 
evolved  in  high  or  low  station  depending  on  his  merits.  Since 
human  existence  is  fundamentally  evil,  the  sin  of  suicide,  for 
example,  is  taught  to  be  especially  heinous,  because  it  pro- 
longs the  round  of  rebirths  in  punishment.  But  no  sin  is 
sufficiently  wicked  to  impose  the  penalty  of  everlasting  life. 

An  impending  evil  cannot  be  averted  even  by  a  hun- 
dred precautions;  what  reason  then  for  you  to  com- 
plain? 

Even  as  a  calf  finds  his  mother  among  a  thousand 
cows,  an  act  formerly  done  is  sure  to  find  the  per- 
petrator. 

Of  existing  beings  the  beginning  is  unknown,  the 
middle  of  their  career  is  known,  and  the  end  again 
unknown ;  what  reason  then  for  you  to  complain  ? 

As  the  body  of  mortals  undergoes  successively  the 

vicissitudes  of  infancy,  youth,  and  old  age,  even  so 

will  it  be  transformed  into  another  body  hereafter;  a 

sensible  man  is  not  mistaken  about  that. 

41 


42  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

As  a  man  puts  on  new  clothes  in  this  world,  throw- 
ing aside  those  which  he  formerly  wore,  even  so  the 
self  of  man  puts  on  new  bodies,  which  are  in  accord- 
ance with  his  acts  in  a  former  life. 

No  weapons  will  hurt  the  self  of  man,  no  fire  burn 
it,  no  waters  moisten  it,  and  no  wind  dry  it  up. 

It  is  not  to  be  hurt,  not  to  be  burnt,  not  to  be 
moistened,  and  not  to  be  dried  up;  it  is  imperishable, 
perpetual,  unchanging,  immovable,  without  beginning. 

It  is  further  said  to  be  immaterial,  passing  all 
thought,  and  immutable.  Knowing  the  self  of  man  to 
be  such,  you  must  not  grieve  for  the  destruction  of  his 
body. 

J.  Jolly,  "Institutes  of  Vishnu,"  p.  82. 


BY  THEIR  FRUITS  SHALL  YE  KNOW  THEM 

When  the  Body  Dies 

The  Brahmans,  unlike  the  Buddhists,  believed  in  the  exist- 
ence of  the  soul.  Each  soul  was  interpenetrated  by  its  karma 
or  the  heredity  of  its  personal  actions.  In  this  sense  the 
world  beyond  was  merely  the  continuation  of  this  present  life. 

And  then  he  heaves  a  very  deep  and  alarming  gasp, 
and  makes  the  unconscious  body  quiver  as  he  goes  out 
of  it.  That  soul,  dropping  out  of  the  body,  is  sur- 
rounded on  both  sides  by  his  own  actions,  his  own  pure 
and  meritorious,  as  also  his  sinful  ones.  Brahmans, 
possessed  of  knowledge,  whose  convictions  are  cor- 
rectly formed  from  sacred  learning,  know  him  by  his 
marks  as  one  who  has  performed  meritorious  actions 
or  the  reverse.  As  those  who  have  eyes  see  a  glow- 
worm disappear  here  and  there  in  darkness,  so  likewise 
do  those  who  have  eyes  of  knowledge.  Such  a  soul, 
the  pious  illuminati  see  with  a  divine  eye,  departing 
from  the  body,  or  coming  to  the  birth,  or  entering  into 
a  womb.  .  .  .  This  world  is  the  world  of  actions, 
where  creatures  dwell.     All  embodied  selfs,  having 

43 


44  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

here  performed  good  or  evil  actions,  obtain  the  fruit. 
It  is  here  they  obtain  higher  or  lower  enjoyments 
by  their  own  actions.  And  it  is  those  whose  actions 
here  are  evil,  who  by  their  actions  go  to  hell. 

K.  T.  Telang,  "Anugita,"  p.  239. 


THIS  IS  YOUR  HOUR  AND  THE  POWER  OF 

DARKNESS 

Hell  a  State  of  Mind 

The  Zoroastrian  trinity  of  thoughts,  words  and  deeds  may 
belong  to  the  Good  Spirit  (Auharmazd)  or  to  the  Evil  Spirit 
(Aharman).  Since  humans  could  guide  their  own  activities 
into  either  channel,  the  attainment  of  heaven  and  hell  was  a 
question  of  mental  choice. 

Of  hell  the  first  part  is  that  of  evil  thoughts,  the 
second  is  that  of  evil  words,  and  the  third  is  that  of 
evil  deeds.  With  the  fourth  step  the  wicked  person 
arrives  at  that  which  is  the  darkest  hell ;  and  they  lead 
him  forwards  to  the  vicinity  of  Aharman,  the  wicked 
one.  And  Aharman  and  the  demons,  thereupon,  make 
ridicule  and  mockery  of  him  thus:  "What  was  thy 
trouble  and  complaint,  as  regards  Auharmazd  and  the 
archangels,  and  the  fragrant  and  joyful  heaven,  when 
thou  approachedst  for  a  sight  of  us  and  gloomy  hell, 
although  we  cause  thee  misery  therein  and  do  not  pity, 
and  thou  shalt  see  misery  of  long  duration?"  And, 
afterwards,  they  execute  punishment  and  torment  of 
various  kinds  upon  him. 

45 


46  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

There  is  a  place  where,  as  to  cold,  it  is  such  as  that 
of  the  coldest  frozen  snow.  There  is  a  place  where, 
as  to  heat,  it  is  such  as  that  of  the  hottest  and  most 
blazing  fire.  There  is  a  place  where  noxious  crea- 
tures are  gnawing  them,  just  as  a  dog  does  the  bones. 
There  is  a  place  where,  as  to  stench,  it  is  such  that 
they  stagger  about  and  fall  down.  And  the  darkness 
is  always  such-like  as  though  it  is  possible  for  them  to 
seize  upon  it  with  the  hand. 

E.  W.  West,  "  Dinai  Mainog-i  Khirad,"  pp.  30-32. 


FATHER,  FORGIVE  THEM  FOR  THEY  KNOW 
NOT  WHAT  THEY  DO 

Sin  not  Ftdly  Realized  Until  After  Death 

Underneath  the  dogmas  of  the  later  Zoroastrians,  one  finds 
a  groping  consciousness  that  the  individual  mind,  when  freed 
at  death  from  the  trammels  of  selfhood,  can  better  apprehend 
the  wide-spreading  influence  of  past  sins. 

When  he  who  is  righteous  passes  away,  where  is  the 
place  the  soul  sits  the  first  night,  the  second,  and  the 
third;  and  what  does  it  do? 

The  reply  is  this,  that  thus  it  is  said,  that  the  soul 
of  man,  itself  the  spirit  of  the  body,  after  passing 
away,  is  three  nights  upon  earth,  doubtful  about  its  own 
position,  and  in  fear  of  the  account ;  and  it  experiences 
terror,  distress,  and  fear.  And  as  it  sits  it  notices 
about  its  own  good  works  and  sin.  And  the  soul, 
which  in  a  manner  belongs  to  that  same  spirit  of  the 
body  which  is  alike  experiencing  and  alike  touching  it, 
becomes  acquainted  by  sight  with  the  sin  which  it  has 
committed,  and  the  good  works  which  it  has  scantily 
done. 

And  the  first  night  from  its  own  good  thoughts,  the 

47 


48  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

second  night  from  its  good  words,  and  the  third  night 
from  its  good  deeds  it  obtains  pleasure  for  the 
soul.     .     .     . 

For  the  remaining  sin  it  undergoes  punishment  .  .  . 
and  the  evil  thoughts,  evil  v^ords,  and  evil  deeds  are 
atoned  for;  and  w^ith  the  good  thoughts,  good  v^rords, 
and  good  deeds  of  its  own  commendable  and  pleasing 
spirit  it  steps  forward  tmto  the  supreme  heaven,  or 
to  heaven,  or  to  the  ever-stationary  of  the  righteous, 
there  where  there  is  a  place  for  it  in  righteousness. 

To  commit  no  sin  is  better  than  retribution  and  re- 
nunciation of  sin. 

E.  W.  West,  "  Dadistani-Dinik."  pp.  63  and  139. 


I  WILL  ARISE  AND  GO  UNTO  MY  FATHER 

Life  Stained  by  Sin 

The  after-consequences  of  evil  and  the  resulting  hindrance 
to  the  soul's  progress  are  beautifully  shown  in  the  greatest 
I^atin  poem,  Vergil's  ^neid. 

One  Life  through  all  the  immense  creation  runs, 
One  Spirit  is  the  moon's,  the  sea's,  the  sun's ; 
All  forms  in  the  air  that  fly,  on  the  earth  that  creep, 
And  the  unknown  nameless  monsters  of  the  deep, — 
Each  breathing  thing  obeys  one  Mind's  control. 
And  in  all  substance  is  a  single  Soul. 
First  to  each  seed  a  fiery  force  is  given; 
And  every  creature  was  begot  in  heaven; 
Only  their  flight  must  hateful  flesh  delay 
And  gross  limbs  moribund  and  cumbering  clay. 
So  from  that  hindering  prison  and  night  forlorn 
Thy  hopes  and  fears,  thy  joy  and  woes  are  born, 
Who  only  seest,  till  death  dispart  thy  gloom, 
The  true  world  glow  through  crannies  of  a  tomb. 
Nor  all  at  once  thine  ancient  ills  decay, 
Nor  quite  with  death  thy  plagues  are  purged  away; 

49 


50  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

In  wondrous  wise  hath  the  iron  entered  in, 

And  through  and  through  thee  is  a  stain  of  sin; 

Which  yet  again  in  wondrous  wise  must  be 

Cleansed  of  the  fire,  aboHshed  in  the  sea; 

Ay,  thro'  and  thro'  that  soul  unclothed  must  go 

Such  spirit-winds  as  where  they  list  will  blow ; — 

O  hovering  many  an  age !  for  ages  bare, 

Void  in  the  void  and  impotent  in  air ! 

Then,  since  his  sins  unshriven  the  sinner  wait, 

And  to  each  soul  that  soul  herself  is  Fate, 

Few  to  heaven's  many  mansions  straight  are  sped 

Past  without  blame  that  Judgment  of  the  dead, 

The   most   shall   mourn  till   tarrying  Time  hath 

wrought 
The  extreme  deliverance  of  the  airy  thought, — 
Hath  left  unsoiled  by  fear  or  foul  desire 
The  spirit's  self,  the  elemental  fire. 
And  last  to  Lethe's  stream  on  the  ordered  day 
These  all  God  summoneth  in  great  array ; 
Who  from  that  draught  reborn,  no  more  shall  know 
Memory  of  past  or  dread  of  destined  woe. 
But  all  shall  there  the  ancient  pain  forgive. 
Forget  their  life,  and  will  again  to  live. 

F.  W.  H.  Myers,  "  Esiays  Clawwcal,"  p.  ITS. 


I  AM  COME  THAT  YE  MAY  HAVE  LIFE 

EVERLASTING 

Not  Everyone  Shall  Have  Eternal  Life 

Contemporary  with  Luther,  lived  the  greatest  mediseval 
reformer  of  India,  the  revered  Guru  Nanak  (1469-1538),  who 
founded  the  religion  of  the  Sikhs.  Its  lofty  monotheism 
impressed  Hindus  and  Mohammedans  alike.  Nanak,  like 
Goethe,  held  that  only  those  possessed  of  divine  knowledge 
could  attain  the  world  beyond. 

In  the  briny  unfathomable  ocean  the  fish  did  not 

recognize  the  net. 
Why  did  the  clever  and  beautiful  fish  have  so  much 

confidence  ?    For  they  were  caught  and  perished. 
Oh,  my  brethren,  death  cannot  be  averted.     Like  an 

unseen  net  it  hangeth  over  your  heads. 
The  vi^hole  world  is  in  its  toils.    Who  but  the  Master 

can  bid  death  begone? 
They  who  are  imbued  with  the  True  One,  and  have 

abandoned  worthless  mammon,  are  saved. 
I  am  a  sacrifice  unto  those  who  are  found  true  at  the 

gate  of  the  True  One. 
Death  is  like  the  hawk  among  the  birds,  or  the  noose 

of  the  fowler. 

SI 


52  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

They  whom  the  Master  preserved  have  been  saved ;  all 

others  are  ensnared. 
They  who  possess  not  God's  name  shall  be  rejected; 

no  one  will  assist  them. 
God  is  the  truest  of  the  true;  in  His  High  Place  only 

truth  can  dwell. 
They  who  obey  the  True  One  meditate  on  Him  in  their 

hearts. 
Even  the  wicked  who  obtain  divine  knowledge  from 

the  Master  can  be  made  pure. 
Make  supplication  imto  Him  to  unite  thee  with  the 

Friend. 
When  man  meeteth  the  Friend  he  obtaineth  happiness 

and  the  myrmidons  of  death  poison  themselves. 
Thou,  O  God,  art  the  Friend;  it  is  Thou  who  unitest 

men  with  Thee. 

M.  A.  MacaulIflFe,  "The  Sikh  Religion,"  Vol.  1, 
p.  134,  Oxford  University  Press,  1909. 


IF  THOU  WILT  ENTER  INTO  LIFE  KEEP 
THE  COMMANDMENTS 

Love  the  Condition  of  Immortality 

The  deep  yearning  shown  in  China  toward  one's  ancestors 
led,  here  and  there,  toward  the  conception  of  love  as  the  bond 
between  the  living  and  the  dead,  whereby  communion  might 
be  possible. 

The  rites  of  mourning  are  the  extreme  expression  of 
grief  and  sorrow.  The  graduated  reduction  of  that 
expression  in  accordance  with  the  natural  changes  of 
time  and  feeling  was  made  by  the  superior  men,  mind- 
ful of  those  to  whom  we  owe  our  being. 

Calling  the  soul  back  is  the  way  in  which  love  re- 
ceives its  consummation,  and  has  in  it  the  mind  which 
is  expressed  by  prayer.  The  looking  for  it  to  return 
from  the  dark  region  is  a  way  of  seeking  for  it  among 
the  spiritual  beings.  The  turning  the  face  to  the  north 
springs  from  the  idea  of  its  being  in  the  dark  region. 

J.  lycggi,  "  lyi  Ki,  Texts  of  Confucianism,"  pt.  3,  p.  167. 


53 


NEITHER  CAN  THEY  DIE  ANY  MORE 

The   Old  Persian  Worship 

In  the  Avesta,  the  Zoroastrian  bible,  it  is  taught  that  every 
individual  has  an  immortal  counterpart.  This  ideal,  spiritual 
body  was  called  fravashi,  rendered  "memory"  in  the  following 
poem.    These  "  memories  "  peopled  the  world  to  come. 

We  worship  the  memories  of  all  the  holy  men  and 
holy  women  whose  souls  are  worthy  of  sacrifice,  whose 
memories  are  worthy  of  invocation. 

We  worship  the  memories  of  all  the  holy  men  and 
holy  women,  our  sacrificing  to  whom  makes  us  good 
in  the  eyes  of  God ;  of  all  of  those  we  have  heard  that 
Zarathustra  (i.  e.  Zoroaster)  is  the  first  and  best,  as 
a  follower  of  God  and  as  a  performer  of  the  law. 

We  worship  the  spirit,  conscience,  perception,  soul, 

and  memory  of  men  of  the  primitive  law,  of  the  first 

who  listened  to  the  teaching  of  God,  holy  men  and 

holy  women,  who  struggled  for  holiness;  we  worship 

the  spirit,  conscience,  perception,  soul,  and  memory 

of  our  next-of-kin,  holy  men  and  holy  women,  who 

struggled  for  holiness. 

We  worship  the  men  of  the  primitive  law  in  all 

54 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  55 

houses,  boroughs,  towns,  and  countries,  who  obtained 
all  the  perfections  of  goodness. 

We  worship  Zarathustra,  the  lord  and  master  of  all 
the  material  world,  the  man  of  the  primitive  law; 
wisest  of  all  beings,  best-ruling,  brightest,  most  glori- 
ous, most  worthy  of  sacrifice,  most  worthy  of  prayer 
and  of  propitiation,  whom  we  call  well-desired  and 
worthy  of  sacrifice  and  prayer  as  much  as  any  being 
can  be,  in  the  perfection  of  his  holiness. 

We  worship  this  earth ; 

We  worship  those  heavens ; 

We  worship  those  good  things  that  stand  between 
the  earth  and  the  heavens  and  that  are  worthy  of 
sacrifice  and  prayer  and  are  to  be  worshipped  by  the 
faithful  man. 

We  worship  the  souls  of  the  wild  beasts  and  of  the 
tame. 

We  worship  the  souls  of  the  holy  men  and  women, 
born  at  any  time,  whose  consciences  struggle,  or  will 
struggle,  or  have  struggled,  for  the  good. 

We  worship  the  spirit,  conscience,  perception,  soul, 
and  memory  of  the  holy  men  and  holy  women  who 
struggle,  will  struggle,  or  have  struggled,  and  teach 
the  Law,  and  who  have  struggled  for  holiness. 

The  memories  of  the  faithful,  awful  and  overpower- 


56  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

ing,  awful  and  victorious;  the  memories  of  the  men  of 
the  primitive  law;  the  memories  of  the  next-of-kin; 
may  these  memories  come  satisfied  into  this  house; 
may  they  walk  satisfied  through  this  house ! 

May  they,  being  satisfied,  bless  this  house  and  leave 
it  satisfied!  May  they  carry  back  from  here  hymns 
and  worship  to  the  Maker,  and  the  Good  Spirits! 
May  they  not  leave  this  house  of  us,  the  worshippers 
of  God,  complaining! 

I  bless  the  sacrifice  and  prayer,  and  the  strength  and 
vigor  of  the  awful,  overpowering  memories  of  the 
faithful;  of  the  memories  of  the  men  of  the  primitive 
law;  of  the  memories  of  the  next-of-kin. 

Give  unto  us  brightness  and  glory,  .  .  .  give 
us  the  bright,  all-happy,  blissful  abode  of  the  holy 
Ones. 

J.  Darmesteter,  "  Favardin  yast,  The  Zend-Avesta," 
pt.  2,  228. 


BETWEEN  US  AND  YOU  THERE  IS  A  GREAT 

GULF  FIXED 

The  Buddha's  Rest 

At  the  age  of  eighty,  India's  greatest  religious  teacher 
passed  away  (probably  about  483  B.  C.)  and  was  cremated. 
He  went  to  no  world  beyond,  it  is  believed,  because  he  had 
attained  Nirvana  or  extinction  of  desire. 

When  the  Blessed  One  died,  Sakka,  at  the  moment 
of  his  passing  away  from  existence,  uttered  this  stanza: 

TheyVe  transient  all,  each  being's  parts  and  powers, 
Growth  is  their  nature,  and  decay. 
They  are  produced,  they  are  dissolved  again ; 
And  then  is  best,  when  they  have  sunk  to  rest ! 

When  the  Blessed  One  died,  the  venerable  Anu- 
ruddha,  at  the  moment  of  his  passing  away  from  ex- 
istence, uttered  these  stanzas: 

When  he  who  from  all  craving  want  was  free, 
Who  to  Nirvana's  tranquil  state  had  reached, 
When  the  great  sage  finished  his  span  of  life. 
No  gasping  struggle  vexed  that  steadfast  heart ! 

57 


58  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

All  resolute,  and  with  unshaken  mind. 
He  calmly  triumphed  o'er  the  pain  of  death. 
E'en  as  a  bright  flame  dies  away,  so  was 
His  last  deliverance  from  the  bonds  of  life! 

T.  W.  Rhys  Davids,  "  Maha-parinibbana  sutta,**  p.  117. 


NEITHER  CAN  THEY  PASS  TO  US,  THAT 
WOULD  COME  FROM  THENCE 

Survival  of  Consciousness 

The  godlessnpss  of  the  Hinayana  school  of  Buddhism  led 
to  the  founding  of  the  Mahayana  school,  which  has  proved 
far  more  vital.  It  is  interesting  that  the  Milinda-panha  or 
"  Questions  of  King  Milinda "  is  the  only  Mahayana  book 
which  is  held  in  reverence  by  orthodox  members  of  the  older 
■chool. 

The  king  said :  "  He  who  is  born,  Nagasena,  does  he 
remain  the  same  or  become  another?  " 

"  Neither  the  same  nor  another." 

"  Give  me  an  illustration." 

"  Now  what  do  you  think,  O  king?  You  were  once 
a  baby,  a  tender  thing,  and  small  in  size,  lying  flat  on 
your  back.  Was  that  the  same  as  you  who  are  now 
grown  up  ?  " 

"  No.     That  child  was  one,  I  am  another." 

"If  you  are  not  that  child,  it  will  follow  that  you 
have  had  neither  mother  nor  father,  no!  nor  teacher. 
You  cannot  have  been  taught  either  learning,  or  be- 
havior, or  wisdom.     What,  great  king!  is  the  mother 

of  the  embryo  in  the  first  stage  different  from  the 

59 


6o  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

mother  of  the  embryo  in  the  second  stage,  or  the  third, 
or  the  fourth  ?  Is  the  mother  of  the  baby  a  different 
person  from  the  mother  of  the  grown-up  man?  Is 
the  person  who  goes  to  school  one,  and  the  same  when 
he  has  finished  his  schooling  another  ?  Is  it  one  who 
commits  a  crime,  another  who  is  punished  by  having 
his  hands  or  feet  cut  off?  " 

"  Certainly  not.  But  what  w^ould  you.  Sir,  say  to 
that?" 

The  Elder  replied:  *'  I  should  say  that  I  am  the  same 
person,  now  I  am  grown  up,  as  I  was  when  I  was  a 
tender  tiny  baby,  flat  on  my  back.  For  all  these  states 
are  included  in  one  by  means  of  this  body." 

"  Give  me  an  illustration." 

"  Suppose  a  man,  O  king,  were  to  light  a  lamp, 
would  it  burn  the  night  through?  " 

"  Yes,  it  might  do  so." 

"  Now,  is  it  the  same  flame  that  burns  in  the  first 
watch  of  the  night,  Sir,  and  in  the  second  ?  "     *'  No." 

"Or  the  same  that  burns  in  the  second  watch  and  in 
the  third?"     "No." 

"  Then  is  there  one  lamp  in  the  first  watch  and  an- 
other in  the  second,  and  another  in  the  third  ?  " 

"  No.  The  light  comes  from  the  same  lamp  all  the 
night  through." 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  6i 

"  Just  so,  O  king,  is  the  continuity  of  a  person  or 
thing  maintained.  One  comes  into  being,  another 
passes  away;  and  the  rebirth  is,  as  it  were,  simul- 
taneous. Thus  neither  as  the  same  nor  as  another 
does  a  man  go  on  to  the  last  phase  of  his  self-con- 
sciousness. It  is  like  milk,  which  when  once  taken 
from  the  cow,  turns,  after  a  lapse  of  time,  first  to 
curds,  and  then  from  curds  to  butter,  and  then  from 
butter  to  ghee.  Now  would  it  be  right  to  say  that  the 
milk  was  the  same  thing  as  the  curds,  or  the  butter,  or 
the  ghee?'' 

"  Certainly  not ;  but  they  are  produced  out  of  it.'* 

"  Just  so  is  the  continuity  of  a  person  or  thing  main- 
tained. One  comes  into  being,  another  passes  away; 
and  the  rebirth  is,  as  it  were,  simultaneous.  Thus 
neither  as  the  same  nor  as  another  does  a  man  go  on  to 
the  last  phase  of  his  self-consciousness." 

The  king  then  asked:  "He  who  has  intelligence, 
has  he  also  wisdom?  " 

"  Yes,  great  king." 

"  What ;  are  they  both  the  same  ?  " 

"  Yes.'' 

"  Then  would  he,  with  his  intelligence — which,  you 
say,  is  the  same  as  wisdom — be  still  in  bewilderment 
or  not?" 


62  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

"  In  regard  to  some  things,  yes ;  in  regard  to  others, 


no." 


"  What  would  he  be  in  bewilderment  about  ?  " 

**  He  would  still  be  in  bewilderment  as  to  those 
parts  of  learning  he  had  not  learnt,  as  to  those  coun- 
tries he  had  not  seen,  and  as  to  those  names  or  terms 
he  had  not  heard." 

"  And  wherein  would  he  not  be  In  bewilderment  ?  '* 

"As  regards  that  which  has  been  accomplished  by 
insight — (the  perception,  that  is,)  of  the  imperma- 
nence  of  all  beings,  of  the  suffering  inherent  in  indi- 
viduality, and  of  the  non-existence  of  any  soul." 

"  Then  what  would  have  become  of  his  delusions  on 
those  points  ? " 

"  When  intelligence  has  once  arisen,  that  moment 
delusion  has  died  away." 

"  Give  me  an  illustration." 

"  It  is  like  the  lamp,  which  when  a  man  has  brought 
into  a  darkened  room,  then  the  darkness  would  vanish 
away,  and  light  would  appear." 

"And  what,  Nagasena,  on  the  other  hand,  has  then 
become  of  his  wisdom?  " 

"  Wlien  the  reasoning  wisdom  has  affected  that 
which  it  has  to  do,  then  the  reasoning  ceases  to  go  on. 
But  that  which  has  been  acquired  by  means  of  it  re- 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  63 

mains, — the  knowledge,  to  wit,  of  the  impermanence 
of  every  being,  of  the  suffering  inherent  in  individu- 
ahty,  and  of  the  absence  of  any  soul." 

"  Give  me  an  illustration,  reverend  Sir,  of  what  you 
have  last  said." 

"  It  is  as  when  a  man  wants,  during  the  night,  to 
send  a  letter,  and  after  having  his  clerk  called,  has  a 
lamp  lit,  and  gets  the  letter  written.  Then,  when  that 
has  been  done,  he  extinguishes  the  lamp.  But  though 
the  lamp  had  been  put  out  the  writing  would  still  be 
there.     Thus  does  reasoning  cease,  and  knowledge  re- 


main." 


T.    W.    Rhys    Davids,    "Questions   of   King 
Milinda,"  pt.  1,  p.  65. 


WHAT  IS  A  MAN  PROFITED,  IF  HE  SHALL 

GAIN  THE  WHOLE  WORLD  AND 

LOSE  HIS  OWN  SOUL? 

There  is  no  Soul 

In  the  same  historical  romance  is  also  seen  how  the  later 
Buddhists  wrestled  with  the  theological  doctrine  of  trans- 
migration, whose  evils  lead  to  the  postulate  that  there  is  no 
soul. 

The  king  said :  "  Where  there  is  no  transmigration, 
Nagasena,  can  there  be  rebirth  ?  " 

"  Yes,  there  can." 

*'  But  how  can  that  be  ?     Give  me  an  illustration." 

"  Suppose  a  man,  O  king,  were  to  light  a  lamp  from 
another  lamp,  can  it  be  said  that  the  one  transmigrates 
from,  or  to,  the  other?** 

"  Certainly  not.'* 

"  Just  so,  great  king,  is  rebirth  without  transmigra- 
tion. Do  you  recollect  having  learnt,  when  you  were 
a  boy,  some  verse  or  other  from  your  teacher  ?  ** 

"  Yes,  I  recollect  that.*' 

"  Well,  then,  did  that  verse  transmigrate  from  your 

teacher?" 

64 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  65 

"  Certainly  not." 

"  Just  so,  great  king,  is  rebirth  without  transmigra- 
tion." 

"  Very  good,  Nagasena !  " 

The  king  said :  "  Is  there  such  a  thing,  Nagasena, 
as  the  soul  ?  " 

"  In  the  highest  sense,  O  king,  there  is  no  such 
thing." 

"  Very  good,  Nagasena !  " 


T.    W.    Rhys    Davids,   "Question!   of   King 
Milinda,"  pt.  1,  p.  111. 


ALL  THINGS  ARE  POSSIBLE  TO  HIM  THAT 

BELIEVETH 

What  the  Senses  do  not  Reveal  Cannot  Exist 

In  Jainism,  originating  at  the  same  time  as  Buddhism,  and 
adhered  to  to-day  by  a  million  five  hundred  thousand  people, 
the  same  negation  of  the  soul  is  proclaimed. 

The  whole  soul  lives ;  when  this  body  is  dead,  it  does 
not  live.  It  lasts  as  long  as  the  body  lasts,  it  does  not 
outlast  the  destruction  of  the  body.  With  the  body, 
ends  life.  Other  men  carry  the  corpse  away  to  burn 
it.  When  it  has  been  consumed  by  fire,  only  dove- 
colored  bones  remain,  and  the  four  bearers  return  with 
the  hearse  to  their  village.  Therefore  there  is  and 
exists  no  soul  different  from  the  bod  v.  Those  who 
believe  that  there  is  and  exists  no  such  soul  speak  the 
truth.  Those  who  maintain  that  the  soul  is  something 
different  from  the  body,  cannot  tell  whether  the  soul 
as  separated  from  the  body  is  long  or  small,  whether 
globular  or  circular  or  triangular  or  square  or  sex- 
agonal  or  octagonal  or  long,  whether  black  or  blue  or 

red  or  yellow  or  white,  whether  of  sweet  smell  or  of 

66 


THE  V;ORLD  BEYOND  67 

bad  smell,  whether  bitter  or  pungent  or  astringent  or 

sour  or  sweet,  whether  hard  or  soft  or  heavy  or  light 

or  cold  or  hot  or  smooth  or  rough.     Those,  therefore, 

who  believe  that  there  is  and  exists  no  soul,  speak  the 

truth. 

H.  Jacobi,  "  Sutrakritanga,"  p.  340. 


THERE  SHALL  BE  NO  MORE  GRIEF 

The  Soul  Liveth 

A  possible  reason  v/hy  Buddhism  lost  its  hold  on  India  was 
because  it  went  counter  to  the  deep-seated  instinct  that  there 
is  a  soul.  The  latter  belief  animates  the  Bhagavadgita,  a  poem 
(probably  antedating  the  Buddha)  sung  to-day  by  millions. 

As  a  man,  casting  off  old  clothes,  puts  on  others 
and  new  ones,  so  the  embodied  self  casting  off  old 
bodies,  goes  to  others  and  new  ones.  Weapons  do  not 
divide  it  into  pieces;  fire  does  not  burn  it;  waters  do 
not  moisten  it ;  the  wind  does  not  dry  it  up.  It  is  not 
divisible;  it  is  not  combustible;  it  is  not  to  be  moist- 
ened; it  is  not  to  be  dried  up.  It  is  everlasting,  all- 
pervading,  stable,  firm,  and  eternal.  It  is  said  to  be 
unperceived,  to  be  unthinkable,  to  be  unchangeable. 
Therefore  knowing  it  to  be  such,  you  ought  not  to 
grieve.  But  even  if  you  think  that  it  is  constantly 
born,  and  constantly  dies,  still,  you  ought  not  to  grieve 
thus.  For  to  one  that  is  born,  death  is  certain ;  and  to 
one  that  dies,  birth  is  certain.  Therefore  about  this 
unavoidable  thing  you  ought  not  to  grieve.     One  looks 

upon  the  self  as  a  wonder ;  another  similarly  speaks  of 

68 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  69 

it  as  a  wonder;  another  too  hears  of  it  as  a  wonder; 
and  even  after  having  heard  of  it,  no  one  does  really 
know  it.  This  embodied  self  within  every  one's  body 
is  ever  indestructible.  Therefore  you  ought  not  to 
grieve  for  any  being. 

K.  T.  Telang,  "  Bhagavadgita,"  p.  45. 


YET  A  LITTLE  WHILE  IS  THE  LIGHT 

WITH  YOU 

Faith  as  a  Faculty 

To  the  Persian  mystics  the  soul  was  the  flame  of  everlasting 
life,  kindled  by  the  creator  of  the  human  faculties.  By  its 
light,  one  can  see  beyond  the  veil. 

He  that  is  born  blind  believes  not  what  you  say  of 

colors, 
Though  you  show  him  instances  and  proofs  for  a 

century. 

White  and  yellow  and  red  and  dark  and  light  green 

Are  to  him  naught  but  darkest  black. 

See  the  evil  plight  of  one  blind  from  his  birth, 

Can  he  ever  gain  sight  from  the  physician's  eye  salve? 

Reason  cannot  see  the  state  of  the  world  to  come, 

As  a  man  born  blind  cannot  see  things  in  this  world. 

But  in  addition  to  reason  man  has  a  certain  faculty, 

Whereby  he  perceives  hidden  mysteries. 

Like  fire  in  flint  and  steel, 

God  has  placed  this  faculty  in  man's  soul  and  body ; 

When  that  flint  and  steel  are  struck  together, 

The  two  worlds  are  illumined  by  the  flash ! 

70 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  71 

From  that  collision  is  this  mystery  made  clear, 
Now  you  have  heard  it,  go  and  attend  to  your  Self. 
Your  Self  is  a  copy  made  in  the  image  of  God, 
Seek  in  your  Self  all  that  you  desire  to  know. 

E.  H.  Whinfield,  "  Gulshan  i  Raz  of  Shabistari,"  p.  44. 

He  bringeth  forth  the  living  out  of  the  dead,  and  He 
bringeth  forth  the  dead  out  of  the  living;  and  He 
quickeneth  the  earth  after  its  death.  Thus  it  is  that 
ye  too  shall  be  brought  forth. 

J.  M.  Rodwell,  "  Koran,"  Surah  30,  18. 

He  giveth  wisdom  to  whom  He  will;  and  he  to 
whom  wisdom  is  given,  hath  much  good  given  unto 
him;  but  none  will  bear  it  in  mind,  except  those  gifted 
with  understanding  hearts. 

J.  M.  Rodwell,  •'  Koran,"  Surah  2,  272. 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  YOUR  FATHER  WHICH 
SPEAKETH  IN  YOU 

The  Unseen  Bond 

Under  the  name  of  Amon,  the  Egyptians  worshipped  the 
holy  spirit  that  pulses  behind  each  individual  soul  both  now 
and  in  the  world  beyond. 

Praise  to  Amon ! 

I  make  hymns  in  his  name, 

I  give  to  him  praise, 

To  the  height  of  heaven, 

And  the  breadth  of  earth ; 

I  tell  of  his  prowess 

To  him  who  sails  down-stream, 

And  to  him  who  sails  up-stream. 

Beware  of  him! 

Repeat  it  to  son  and  daughter. 

To  great  and  small, 

Tell  it  to  generation  after  generation. 

Who  are  not  yet  born. 

Tell  it  to  the  fishes  in  the  stream, 

To  the  birds  in  the  sky, 

72 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  73 

Repeat  it  to  him  who  knoweth  it  not 
And  to  him  who  knoweth  it. 

Thou,  O  Amon,  art  the  lord  of  the  silent, 
Who  cometh  at  the  cry  of  the  poor. 
When  I  cry  to  thee  in  my  affliction. 
Then  thou  comest  and  savest  me. 
That  thou  mayest  give  breath  to  him  who  is 

bowed  down, 
And  mayest  save  me  lying  in  bondage. 
Thou,  Amon-Re,  Lord  of  Thebes,  art  he, 
Who  saveth  him  that  is  in  the  Nether  World. 
When  men  cry  unto  thee, 
Thou  art  he  that  cometh  from  afar. 

J.  H.  Breasted,  "  Development  of  Religion  and 
Thought  in  Ancient  Egypt/'  p.  350. 


MARVEL  NOT  AT  THIS 

The  Grave  is  the  Curtain  of  Paradise 

Greatest  of  the  Sufis,  the  Persian  religious  mystics,  was 
Jelaruddin  Rumi  (1207-1273),  to  whom  his  passionate  friend, 
Shamsi  Tabriz,  personified  the  Divine  Beloved.  Like  Plotinus, 
Jelal  in  the  following  lines  holds  that  death  means  the 
achievement  of  perfect  union. 

When  my  bier  moveth  on  the  day  of  death, 

Think  not  my  heart  is  in  this  world. 

Do  not  weep  for  me  and  cry  "  Woe,  woe !  '* 

Thou  wilt  fall  in  the  devil's  snare:  that  is  woe. 

When  thou  seest  my  hearse,  cry  not  "  Parted,  parted !  " 

Union  and  meeting  are  mine  in  that  hour. 

If  thou  commit  me  to  the  grave,  say  not  "  Farewell, 

farewell ! " 
For  the  grave  is  a  curtain  hiding  the  communion  of 

Paradise. 

After  beholding  descent,  consider  resurrection; 

Why  should  setting  be  injurious  to  the  sun  and  moon? 

To  thee  it  seems  a  setting,  but  'tis  a  rising; 

Tho'  the  vault  seems  a  prison,  'tis  the  release  of  the 

soul. 

74 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  75 

What  seed  went  down  into  the  earth  but  it  grew  ? 
Why  this  doubt  of  thine  as  regards  the  seed  of  man? 
What  bucket  was  lowered  but  it  came  out  brimful? 
Shut  th}^  mouth  on  this  side  and  open  it  beyond, 
For  in  placeless  air  will  be  thy  triumphal  song. 

R.  A.  Nicholson,  "  Divani  Shamsi  Tabriz,"  p.  9S. 


NO  MAN  HATH  SEEN  GOD  AT  ANY  TIME 

Omnipresent  yet  Elusive 

Curiously  parallel  with  Persian  mysticism  is  the  Chinese 
doctrine  of  the  Perfect  Tao, — The  Way  of  God.  Laotzc 
(born  about  604  B.  C.)  taught  the  importance  of  this  immortal 
spirit  of  guidance. 

The  grandest  forms  of  active  force 

From  Tao  come,  their  only  source. 

Who  can  of  Tao  the  nature  tell  ? 

Our  sight  it  flies,  our  touch  as  well. 

Eluding  sight,  eluding  touch, 

The  forms  of  things  all  in  it  crouch; 

Eluding  touch,  eluding  sight, 

There  are  their  semblances,  all  right. 

Profound  it  is,  dark  and  obscure ; 

Things'  essences  all  there  endure. 

Those  essences  the  truth  enfold 

Of  what,  when  seen,  shall  then  be  told. 

Now  it  is  so ;  'twas  so  of  old. 

Its  name — what  passes  not  away! 

So,  in  their  beautiful  array, 

Things  form  and  never  know  decay. 

J.  Legge,  *'  Tao  Teh  King,  Texts  of  Taoism,"  pt. 
1,  p.  64. 

76 


THAT  WHERE  I  AM  THERE  YE  MAY  BE 

ALSO 

Beyond  the  Veil 

One  of  the  disciples  of  Plotinus  (205-270  A.  D.)  after  his 
death  went  to  the  oracle  of  Delphi  to  inquire  "where  was  now 
Plotinus'  soul?"  The  answer  came  through  the  Pythian 
priestess,  who  prophesied  while  in  a  kind  of  hypnotic  trance. 
This  poem  is  one  of  the  most  earnest  utterances  of  antiquity. 

Pure  spirit — once  a  man — pure  spirits  now 

Greet  thee  rejoicing,  and  of  these  art  thou ; 

Not  vainly  was  thy  whole  soul  alway  bent 

With  one  same  battle  and  one  the  same  intent 

Through  eddying  cloud  and  earth's  bewildering  roar 

To  win  her  bright  way  to  that  stainless  shore. 

Ay,  *mid  the  salt  spume  of  this  troublous  sea, 

This  death  in  life,  this  sick  perplexity. 

Oft  on  thy  struggle  through  the  obscure  unrest 

A  revelation  opened  from  the  Blest — 

Showed  close  at  hand  the  goal  thy  hope  would  win, 

Heaven's  kingdom  round  thee  and  thy  God  within. 

So  sure  a  help  the  eternal  Guardians  gave. 

From  life's  confusion  so  were  strong  to  save, 

77 


78  THE  WORLD  BEYOND 

Upheld  thy  wandering  steps  that  sought  the  day 
And  set  them  steadfast  on  the  heavenly  way. 
Nor  quite  even  here  on  thy  broad  brows  was  shed 
The  sleep  which  shrouds  the  living,  who  are  dead ; 
Once  by  God's  grace  was  from  thine  eyes  unfurled 
This  veil  that  screens  the  immense  and  whirling  world, 
Once,  while  the  spheres  around  thee  in  music  ran. 
Was  very  Beauty  manifest  to  man; — 
Ah,  once  to  have  seen  her,  once  to  have  known  her 

there, 
For  speech  too  sweet,  for  earth  too  heavenly  fair ! 
But  now  the  tomb  where  long  thy  soul  had  lain 
Bursts,  and  thy  tabernacle  is  rent  in  twain ; 
Now  from  about  thee,  in  thy  new  home  above. 
Has  perished  all  but  life,  and  all  but  love, — 
And  on  all  lives  and  on  all  loves  outpoured 
Free  grace  and  full,  a  Spirit  from  the  Lord, 
High  in  that  heaven  whose  windless  vaults  enfold 
Just  men  made  perfect,  and  an  age  all  gold. 
Thine  own  Pythagoras  is  with  thee  there, 
And  sacred  Plato  in  that  sacred  air, 
And  whoso  followed,  and  all  high  hearts  that  knew 
In  death's  despite  what  deathless  Love  can  do. 
To  God's  right  hand  they  have  scaled  the  starry  way — 
Pure  spirits  these,  thy  spirit  pure  as  they. 


THE  WORLD  BEYOND  79 

Ah  saint!  how  many  and  many  an  anguish  past, 
To  how  fair  haven  art  thou  come  at  last ! 
On  thy  meek  head  what  Powers  their  blessing  pour, 
Filled  full  with  life,  and  rich  for  evermore! 

F.  W.  H.  Myers,  "  Essays  Classical,"  p.  98. 


The  Higher  Knowledge 


I  AM  COME  THAT  YE  MAY  HAVE  LIFE  AND 
MAY  HAVE  IT  MORE  ABUNDANTLY 

Genius  and  Inspiration 

If  reflection  had  to  seek  for  the  spiritual  elements 
capable  of  mutually  entwining  themselves  for  the  out- 
growing expression  of  the  master  idea,  then  a  work 
of  art  would  be  impossible.  Consciousness  does  not 
shed  its  rays  over  the  whole  mind;  it  is  not  a  distinct 
light  of  thought  that  enables  one  at  will  to  find  what 
is  sought  after,  as  in  some  treasure  house  of  imagery 
and  ideas.  Consciousness  is  not  a  creative  power; 
rather  it  is  thought  self -beholden  and  standing  apart 
as  witness  of  what  is  spontaneously  wrought.  The 
mind  is  a  living  thing  composed  of  spiritual  elements. 
The  idea  to  which  it  may  give  itself  is  not  distinguish- 
able from  the  mind, — subject  and  object  seeming  as 
one ;  for  as  long  as  the  mind  cherishes  this  idea  desir- 
ing it  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others,  just  so  long  the 
idea  is  the  mind. 

Life  is  action  in  accord,  the  concert  of  all  the  move- 
ments accomplished  in  the  organism.     To  live  is  to 

83 


84  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

create  and  maintain  the  living  form.  By  the  sole  fact 
that  the  mind  continues  to  live  and  tends  to  organize 
itself,  the  idea,  which  is  imposed  by  love  for  it  and  by 
the  will,  groups  all  ideas  and  fancies  that  can  enter 
with  the  master-idea  into  the  unity  of  some  one  con- 
sciousness, into  the  unity  of  a  perfect  spiritual  form. 
Little  by  little,  living  only  from  its  inner  life,  this  idea 
develops,  becomes  involute  and  richly  diversified, 
represents  itself  at  length  in  the  substance  of  pictures 
which  are  its  realization.  Such  a  work  is  spontaneous, 
often  surprising  consciousness  with  its  unexpected  re- 
sults. The  will,  tired  by  vain  efforts,  grows  lax.  Yet 
the  impulse  given  by  it  continues.  In  silence  life  seems 
to  commune  more  freely.  All  at  once  the  pictures  so 
long,  so  vainly  sought,  invade  one's  consciousness. 
An  artist's  first  sentiment  before  his  own  handiwork 
IS  surprise.  To  him  It  seems  as  if  the  work  had  done 
itself  with  his  participation, — that  he  received  it,  rather 
than  gave  It  to  himself.  In  repose,  born  out  of  the 
very  excess  of  effort,  the  idea  with  a  sudden  surge  had 
risen  again  into  consciousness,  enriched  with  new 
pictures.  Genius  is  a  grace  from  above,  and  its  work- 
ings are  like  a  prayer  that  is  granted.  Gladly  the 
poets  speak  of  God  inspiring  them,  of  the  torments  of 
soul  which  gain  this  favor,  of  the  joy,  when,  envaded 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  85 

by  a  more  puissant  personality,  and  having  them- 
selves become  the  Very  God  who  dictates  to  them  his 
thoughts,  they  no  longer  feel  themselves  distinguish- 
able apart  from  the  beauty  they  create.     .     .     . 

Inspiration  is  life,  freer,  more  abundant;  in  some 
people  more  quickly  concentrated,  in  others  at  first 
hindered,  distracted,  as  if  divided  against  itself;  more 
or  less  requiring  the  imperious  summons  of  the  will; 
but  in  the  hour  of  creation  it  is  always  life  gushing 
forth,  flowing  brimmingly,  joyously  mounting  to  fill 
some  work  of  art  with  her  potent  ichor.  Very  rarely 
does  it  happen  that  the  entire  mind  is  involved  in  some 
single  act;  more  commonly  are  its  powers  divided  or 
in  opposition.  Reflection  is  applied  in  due  course  to 
the  various  elements  which  are  sought  to  be  coordi- 
nated. Reflection  brings  these  together  and  compares 
them.  The  mind  does  not  live  all  its  life  at  once,  it  is 
as  it  acts,  by  fragments,  of  an  incomplete  and  divided 
life.  In  inspiration,  when,  under  the  action  of  the 
will,  the  idea  has  little  by  little  stirred  the  mind  to  its 
very  depths,  all  faculties,  as  if  now  in  accord,  resound 
in  unison.  .  .  .  The  mind  exists  entire,  living  all 
its  life  at  once.  Ideas  call  each  other,  and  make  an- 
swer; in  their  train  comes  soon  the  troop  of  picture- 
shapes  that  express  them;  all  that  can  enter  into  the 


86  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

unity  of  this  living  action  presents  and  disposes  of 
itself  because  of  the  sole  fact  that  all  elements,  obey- 
ing their  own  free  impulses,  group  themselves  accord- 
ing to  the  harmonious  laws  of  life.  The  joy  of  the 
artist  in  the  moment  of  inspiration  is  the  joy  of  loving 
and  feeling  at  once  all  his  forces  and  of  finding  for  an 
instant  in  this  perfect  accord  of  the  inner  being,  the 
illusion  of  a  divine  life.     .     .     . 

Genius  is  mental  health  .  .  .  it  is  life  itself;  it 
is  the  mind  no  longer  attaching  itself  to  any  idea  with- 
out the  latter's  becoming  immediately  the  principle  of 
a  vital  movement  .  .  .  it  is  the  mind  disengaging 
itself  from  the  diversity  of  confused  ideas  by  the  fact 
solely  that  they  live  in  it  the  unity  which  commands 
them. 

Inspiration  is  defined  by  life,  is  not  outside  of  nature, 
but  is  rather  the  return  to  nature  of  a  mind  developed 
by  effort  and  reflection. 

G.  Seailles,  "  Essai  sur  le  genie  dans  Tart,"  p.  172. 


THE  SON  CAN  DO  NOTHING  OF  HIMSELF 

Escape  from  the  Lesser  Self 

Fasusu'l  Hikan  says:  "While  men  of  externals  believe  that 
there  is  nothing  in  existence  but  what  is  visible  to  sight, 
interior  men  hold  that  much  is  veiled  from  outer  sight,  which 
can  only  be  seen  through  a  near  approach  to  God  and  a  close 
communion  with  His  omnipresent  Spirit."  In  the  Masnavi 
of  Jalal'uddin  Rumi  also  there  runs  a  conviction  that  religion 
is  the  path  to  a  Higher  Knowledge. 

The  sharpest  thorns  are  welcome,  as  the  roseleaf 

soft, 
To  finite  who  to  th'  Infinite  can  soar  aloft. 
What  signifies  to  glorify  the  Lord  of  heaven; 
To  humble  self  to  dust;  with  meekness,  pride  to 

heaven  ? 
What  use  to  learn  to  formulate  God's  unity ; 
What  use  to  bow  one's  self  before  the  Deity? 
Wouldst  shine  as  brilliantly  in  sight  of  all  ? 
Annihilate  thy  darksome  self, — thy  being's  pall. 
Let  thy  existence  in  God's  essence  be  enrolled. 
As  copper  in  alchemist's  bath  is  turned  to  gold. 

87 


88  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

Quit  "  I  "  and  "  We,"  which  o'er  thy  heart  exert 

control. 
'Tis  egotism,  estranged  from  God,  that  clogs  thy 

soul. 

J.  W.  Redhouse,  "  Mcsnevi,"  p.  217. 


SLEEP  ON  NOW  AND  TAKE  YOUR  REST 

The  Mystery  of  Sleep 

Earliest  man  was  puzzled  by  the  dream-state  of  conscious- 
ness. Sleep,  or  possibly  the  occasional  experience  of  a  dual 
personality,  led  to  higher  speculations  regarding  the  nature  of 
thought. 

And  there  are  two  states  for  that  person,  the  one 
here  in  this  world,  the  other  in  the  other  world,  and  as 
a  third  an  intermediate  state,  the  state  of  sleep.  When 
in  that  intermediate  state,  he  sees  both  those  states  to- 
gether, the  one  here  in  this  world,  and  the  other  in  the 
other  world.  Now  whatever  his  admission  to  the 
other  world  may  be,  having  gained  that  admission,  he 
sees  both  the  evils  and  the  blessings. 

And  when  he  falls  asleep,  then  after  having  taken 
away  with  him  the  material  from  the  whole  world, 
destroying  and  building  it  up  again,  he  sleeps  by  his 
own  light.     In  that  state  the  person  is  self-illuminated. 

There  are  no  real  chariots  in  that  state,  no  horses, 

no  roads,  but  he  himself  sends  forth  chariots,  horses, 

and  roads.     There  are  no  blessings  there,  no  happiness, 

no  joys,  but  he  himself  sends  forth  blessings,  happi- 

89 


90  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

ness,  and  joys.  There  are  no  tanks  there,  no  lakes, 
no  rivers,  but  he  himself  sends  forth  tanks,  lakes,  and 
rivers.     He  indeed  is  the  maker. 

On  this  there  are  these  verses: 

After  having  subdued  by  sleep  all  that  belongs  to 
the  body,  he,  not  asleep  himself,  looks  down  upon  the 
sleeping  senses.  Having  assumed  light,  he  goes  again 
to  his  place,  the  golden  person,  the  lonely  bird. 

Guarding  with  the  breath  the  lower  nest,  the  im- 
mortal moves  away  from  the  nest;  that  immortal  one 
goes  wherever  he  likes,  the  golden  person,  the  lonely 
bird. 

Going  up  and  down  in  his  dream,  the  god  makes 
manifold  shapes  for  himself,  either  rejoicing  together 
with  women,  or  laughing  with  his  friends,  or  seeing 
terrible  sights. 

People  may  see  his  playground,  but  himself  no  one 
ever  sees.  Therefore  they  say,  "  Let  no  one  wake  a 
man  suddenly,  for  it  is  not  easy  to  remedy,  if  he  does 
not  get  back  rightly  to  his  body." 

Max  Miiller,  "  Brihadaranyaka-upanishad,"  p.  164. 


WHO  HAD  GIVEN  SUCH  POWER  XJNTO  MEN 

Sleep 

In  the  Koran  the  view  prevails  that  the  human  mind  derives 
its  energy  and  tone  from  God.  "He  giveth  to  his  beloved 
(in)  sleep."  Supra-sensuous  were  Mohammed's  own  visions 
and  inspirations. 

God  takes  to  Himself  souls  at  the  time  of  their 
death;  and  those  which  do  not  die  He  takes  in  their 
sleep;  and  He  holds  back  those  on  whom  He  has  de- 
creed death,  and  sends  others  back  till  their  appointed 
time; — verily,  in  that  are  signs  unto  a  people  who 

reflect. 

E.  H.  Palmer,  "  Qur'an  "  (Koran),  pt.  2,  p.  186. 

Whatever  is  in  the  Heavens  and  in  the  earth  is 
God's ;  and  whether  ye  disclose  what  is  in  your  minds 
or  conceal  it,  God  will  reckon  with  you  for  it;  and 
whom  He  pleaseth  will  He  forgive,  and  whom  He 
pleaseth  will  He  punish ;  for  God  is  All-powerful. 

The  Apostle  believeth  in  that  which  hath  been  sent 

down  from  his  Lord,  as  do  the  faithful  also.     Each 

one  believeth  in  God  and  His  angels  and  His  scriptures 

91 


92  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

and  His  Apostles:  We  make  no  distinction  between 
any  of  His  Apostles.  And  they  say,  "  We  have  heard 
and  we  obey.  Thy  mercy,  Lord,  for  unto  Thee  must 
we  return." 

J.  M.  Rodwell,  "  Koran,"  Surah  t,  285-286. 


FATHER,  GIVE  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT  TO  THEM 

The  Source  of  Life 

After  much  schooling,  Svetaketu  returned  home  puffed  up 
with  new  knowledge.  Gently  his  father  Uddalaka  dispelled 
his  conceit  by  revealing  the  mystery  of  sentient  life. 

The  Sage  said  to  his  son  Svetaketu:  "  Learn  from 
me  the  true  nature  of  sleep.  When  a  man  sleeps  here, 
then,  my  dear  son,  he  becomes  united  with  the  True,  he 
is  gone  to  his  own  Self. 

"  As  a  bird  when  tied  by  a  string  flies  first  in  every 
direction,  and  finding  no  rest  anywhere,  settles  down 
at  last  on  the  very  place  where  it  is  fastened,  exactly  in 
the  same  manner,  my  son,  that  living  Self  in  the  mind, 
after  flying  in  every  direction,  and  finding  no  rest  any- 
where, settles  down  on  breath;  for  indeed,  my  son, 
mind  is  fastened  to  breath.     .     .     . 

"  As  the  bees  make  honey  by  collecting  the  juices  of 
distant  trees,  and  reduce  the  juice  into  one  form, 

"And  as  these  juices  have  no  discrimination,  so  that 
they  might  say,  I  am  the  juice  of  this  tree  or  that,  in 
the  same  manner,  my  son,  all  these  creatures,  when 

9Z 


94  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

they  have  become  merged  in  the  True,  either  in  deep 
sleep  or  in  death,  know  not  that  they  are  merged  in  the 
True. 

"  Whatever  these  creatures  are  here,  whether  a  Hon, 
or  a  wolf,  or  a  boar,  or  a  worm,  or  a  midge,  or  a  gnat, 
or  a  mosquito,  that  they  become  again  and  again. 

"  Now  that  which  is  that  subtile  essence,  in  it  all 
that  exists  has  its  self.  It  is  the  True.  It  is  the  Self, 
and  thou,  O  Svetaketu,  art  it." 

"  Please,  Sir,  inform  me  still  more,"  said  the  son. 

"  Be  it  so,  my  child,"  the  father  replied. 

"If  some  one  were  to  strike  at  the  root  of  this  large 
tree  here,  it  would  bleed,  but  live.  If  he  were  to  strike 
at  its  stem,  it  would  bleed,  but  live.  If  he  were  to 
strike  at  its  top,  it  would  bleed,  but  live.  Pervaded  by 
the  living  Self  that  tree  stands  firm,  drinking  in  its 
nourishment  and  rejoicing.  But  if  the  live,  the  living 
Self,  leaves  one  of  its  branches,  that  branch  withers; 
if  it  leaves  a  second,  that  branch  withers ;  if  it  leaves  a 
third,  that  branch  withers.  If  it  leaves  the  whole  tree, 
the  whole  tree  withers.  Thus  the  human  body  indeed 
withers  and  dies  when  the  living  Self  has  left  it;  the 
living  Self  dies  out.  That  which  is  that  subtile  es- 
sence, in  it  all  that  exists  has  its  self.  It  is  the  True. 
It  is  the  Self,  and  thou,  Svetaketu,  art  it." 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  95 

"  Please,  Sir,  inform  me  still  more,"  said  the  son. 

"  Be  it  so,  my  child,"  the  father  replied.  "  Fetch 
me  from  thence  a  fruit  of  the  Nyagrodha  tree." 

"  Here  is  one.  Sir." 

"  Break  it." 

"  It  is  broken.  Sir." 

"  What  do  you  see  there?  " 

**  These  seeds,  almost  infinitesimal." 

"  Break  one  of  them.     What  do  you  see  there?  " 

"  Not  anything,  Sir." 

The  father  said :  "  My  son,  that  subtile  essence 
which  you  do  not  perceive  there,  of  that  very  essence 
this  great  Nyagrodha  tree  exists.  That  which  is  the 
subtile  essence,  in  it  all  that  exists  has  its  self.  It  is 
the  True.  It  is  the  Self,  and  thou,  O  Svetaketu,  art  it. 
Place  this  salt  in  water,  and  then  wait  on  mc  in  the 
morning." 

The  son  did  as  he  was  commanded. 

The  father  said  to  him:  "  Bring  me  the  salt,  which 
you  placed  in  the  water  last  night." 

The  son  having  looked  for  it,  found  it  not,  for,  of 
course,  it  was  melted. 

The  father  said:  "  Taste  it  from  the  surface  of  the 
water.     How  is  it  ?  " 

The  son  replied:   "  It  is  salt" 


96  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

"  Taste  it  from  the  middle.     How  is  it?  " 

The  son  repHed:  "  It  is  salt." 

"  Taste  it  from  the  bottom.     How  is  it?  " 

The  son  replied:  "  It  is  salt." 

Then  the  father  said:  "  Here  also,  in  this  body,  for- 
sooth, you  do  not  perceive  the  True,  my  son ;  but  there 
indeed  it  is.  That  which  is  the  subtile  essence,  in  it  all 
that  exists  has  its  self.  It  is  the  True.  It  is  the  Self, 
and  thou,  O  Svetaketu,  art  it." 

"  Please,  Sir,  inform  me  still  more,"  said  the  son. 

"  Be  it  so,  my  child,"  the  father  replied.  "  If  a  man 
is  ill,  his  relatives  assemble  round  him  and  ask:  Dost 
thou  know  me?  Dost  thou  know  me?  Now  as  long 
as  his  speech  is  not  merged  in  his  mind,  his  mind  in 
breath,  breath  in  heat,  heat  in  the  Highest  Being,  he 
knows  them.  But  when  his  speech  is  merged  in  his 
mind,  his  mind  in  breath,  breath  in  heat,  heat  in  the 
Highest  Being,  then  he  knows  them  not.  That  which 
is  the  subtile  essence,  in  it  all  that  exists  has  its  self. 
It  is  the  True.  It  is  the  Self,  and  thou,  O  Svetaketu, 
art  it." 

Max  Miiller,  "  Khandogya-upanishad,"  p.  98  flf. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN  IS  LIKE  UNTO 
A  TREASURE  HIDDEN  IN  A  FIELD 

The  Sacredness  of  Memory 

In  the  same  Khandagya-upanishad  another  sage,  Sanat- 
kumara,  discourses  to  his  pupil,  Narada,  of  the  sacred  lore 
that  even  to-day  in  India  is  passed  on  from  generation  to 
generation. 

Said  a  venerable  sage  to  his  pupil : 

**  He  v^ho  meditates  on  memory  as  God,  is,  as  it 
were,  lord  and  master  as  far  as  memor>^  reaches — he 
who  meditates  on  memory  as  God." 

"  Sir,  is  there  something  better  than  memory  ?  *' 

"  Yes,  there  is  something  better  than  memory." 

'*  Sir,  tell  it  me." 

"  Hope  is  better  than  memory.  Fired  by  hope  does 
memory  read  the  sacred  hymns,  perform  sacrifices,  de- 
sire sons  and  cattle,  desire  this  world  and  the  other. 
Meditate  on  hope.  He  who  meditates  on  hope  as  God, 
all  his  desires  are  fulfilled  by  hope,  his  prayers  are  not 
in  vain ;  he  is,  as  it  were,  lord  and  master  as  far  as  hope 
reaches — he  who  meditates  on  hope  as  God." 

"  Tell  me,  Sir,  is  there  something  better  than  hope? " 

97 


98  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

**  Yes,  spirit  is  better  than  hope.  As  the  spokes  of  a 
wheel  hold  to  the  nave,  so  does  all  this,  beginning  with 
names  and  ending  in  hope,  hold  to  spirit.  Father 
means  spirit,  mother  is  spirit,  brother  is  spirit,  sister  is 
spirit.  When  one  understands  the  True,  then  one  de- 
clares the  True.  One  who  does  not  understand  it,  does 
not  declare  the  True.  Only  he  who  understands  it, 
declares  the  True.  This  understanding,  however,  \ye 
must  desire  to  understand.  When  one  perceives,  then 
one  understands.  One  who  does  not  perceive,  does 
not  understand.  Only  he  who  perceives,  understands. 
This  perception,  however,  we  must  desire  to  under- 
stand." 

"  Sir,  I  desire  to  understand  it." 

"  When  one  believes,  then  one  perceives.  One  wKo 
does  not  believe,  does  not  perceive.  Only  he  who  be- 
lieves, perceives.  The  Infinite  is  bliss.  There  is  no 
bliss  in  anything  finite.  Infinity  only  is  bliss.  This 
Infinity,  however,  we  must  desire  to  understand." 

"  Sir,  I  desire  to  understand  it." 

"  Where  one  sees  nothing  else,  hears  nothing  else, 
understands  nothing  else,  that  is  the  Infinite.  Where 
one  sees  something  else,  hears  something  else,  under- 
stands something  else,  that  is  the  finite.  The  Infinite 
is  immortal,  the  finite  is  mortal.     .     .     .     The  Infinite 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  99 

indeed  is  below,  above,  behind,  before,  right  and  left — 
it  is  indeed  all  this.  Now  follows  the  explanation  of 
the  Infinite  as  the  I ;  I  am  below,  I  am  above,  I  am  be- 
hind, before,  right  and  left — I  am  all  this. 

"  Next  follows  the  explanation  of  the  Infinite  as  the 
Self;  Self  is  below,  above,  behind,  before,  right  and 
left — Self  is  all  this.  He  who  sees,  perceives,  and 
understands  this,  loves  the  Self,  delights  in  the  Self, 
revels  in  the  Self,  rejoices  in  the  Self — he  becomes  a 
master  of  himself.** 

Max  Miiller,  "  Khandogya-upanishad,"  p.  119. 


THIS  NIGHT  SHALL  THY  SOUL  BE  RE- 
QUIRED OF  THEE 

The  Atomic  Size  of  the  Soul 

The  Vedanta  philosophy  forms  the  basis  of  modem  The- 
osophy  and  has  not  a  little  in  common  with  New  Thought 
and  Christian  Science.  Its  most  revered  commentator  was 
Sankara  (lived  about  800  A.  D.),  who  may  be  called  the  St. 
Augustine  of  Brahmanism.  Suggestive  and  typical  is  hii 
speculation  regarding  the  nature  of  the  soul. 

And  on  account  of  the  two  latter  {i.  e.,  going  and 
returning)  being  connected  with  their  Self  (i.  e.,  the 
agent),  the  soul  is  of  atomic  size. 

We  admit  that  "  passing  out "  might  possibly  be  at- 
tributed to  the  soul  even  if  it  does  not  move,  namely, 
if  that  expression  be  taken  to  mean  the  soul's  ceasing 
to  be  the  ruler  of  the  body,  in  consequence  of  the  re- 
sults of  its  former  actions  having  become  exhausted; 
just  as  somebody  when  ceasing  to-be  the  ruler  of  a 
village  may  be  said  to  "  go  out."  But  the  two  latter 
activities,  namely,  going  and  returning,  are  not  possible 
in  the  case  of  something  v/hich  does  not  move;  for  they 
are  both  connected  with  the  own  Self  of  the  agent, 

ICO 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  loi 

going  and  coming  back  being  activities  abiding  in  the 
agent.  Now  going  and  coming  are  possible  for  a  be- 
ing that  is  not  of  medium  size,  only  if  it  is  of  atomic 
size.  And  as  going  and  coming  must  be  taken  in  their 
literal  sense,  we  conclude  that  the  passing  out  also 
means  nothing  but  the  soul's  actual  moving  out  of  the 
body.  For  the  soul  cannot  go  and  return  without  first 
having  moved  out  of  the  body.  Moreover  certain 
parts  of  the  body  are  mentioned  as  the  points  from 
which  the  soul  starts  in  passing  out,  for  instance,  in  the 
following  scripture  passage,  "  Either  from  the  eye  or 
from  the  skull  or  from  other  places  of  the  body  the 
Self  passes  out."  Other  passages  mention  that  the 
embodied  soul  goes  and  comes  within  the  body  also; 
so,  for  instance,  "  He  taking  with  him  those  elements 
of  light  descends  into  the  heart ;  Having  assumed  light 
he  again  goes  to  his  place."  Thereby  the  atomic  size 
of  the  soul  is  established  as  well. 

Geo.  Thibaut,  "  Vedanta-sutras/*  pt.  2,  p.  36. 


IN  MY  FATHER'S  HOUSE  ARE  MANY 

MANSIONS 

What  is  the  Soulf 

Like  an  atom,  the  soul,  say  the  Upanishads,  is  not  to  be  ap- 
prehended in  a  materialistic  way.  Like  energy  it  is  everlast- 
ing. Like  ether  it  permeates  and  forms  the  substratum  of 
the  body. 

As  large  as  all  space  is,  so  large  is  that  spiritual  es- 
sence within  the  heart.  Both  heaven  and  earth  are 
contained  within  it,  both  fire  and  air,  both  sun  and 
moon,  both  hghtning  and  stars ;  and  whatever  there  is 
of  him,  the  Self,  here  in  the  world,  and  whatever  Is 
not,  namely,  whatever  has  been  or  will  be,  all  that  is 
contained  within  it. 

By  the  old  age  of  the  body  this  spiritual  essence  does 
not  age;  by  the  death  of  the  body,  it  is  not  killed. 
This  inner  essence,  not  the  body  itself,  is  the  true  man- 
sion of  God.  In  it  all  desires  are  contained.  It  is  the 
Self,  free  from  sin,  free  from  old  age,  from  death  and 
grief,  from  hunger  and  thirst,  which  desires  nothing 
but  what  it  ought  to  desire,  and  imagines  nothing  but 
what  it  ought  to  imagine.     Now  as  here  on  earth  peo- 

I02 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  103 

pie  follow  as  they  are  commanded,  and  depend  on  the 
object  which  they  are  attached  to,  be  it  a  country  or  a 
piece  of  land. 

And  as  here  on  earth,  whatever  has  been  acquired  by 
exertion,  perishes,  so  perishes  whatever  is  acquired  for 
the  next  world  by  sacrifices  and  other  good  actions 
performed  on  earth.  Those  who  depart  from  hence 
without  having  discovered  the  Self  and  those  true  de- 
sires, for  them  there  is  no  freedom  in  all  the  worlds. 
But  those  who  depart  from  hence,  after  having  dis- 
covered the  Self  and  those  true  desires,  for  them  there 
is  freedom  in  all  the  worlds. 

Max  Miiller,  "  Khandogya-upanishad,"  p.  126. 


AND  I  WILL  MANIFEST  MYSELF  UNTO  HIM 

The  Keys  of  the  Unseen 

Mohammedanism,  like  its  later  American  parallel,  Mor- 
monism,  was  a  pre-eminently  dynamic  creed,  less  given  to 
speculation  than  to  action.  "  Think  on  the  mercies  of  God, 
not  on  the  essence  of  God  "  the  Prophet  taught.  Five  times 
daily,  two  hundred  and  twenty  million  Mohammedans  kneel 
on  their  prayer  carpets  to  invoke  the  Spirit  who,  as  the  Koran 
teaches,  is  the  source  of  wisdom  and  knowledge. 

Admonish  therewith  those  who  fear  that  they  shall 
be  gathered  unto  their  Lord;  there  is  no  patron  for 
them  but  Him,  and  no  intercessor ;  haply  they  may  fear. 

Repulse  not  those  who  call  upon  their  Lord  in  the 
morning  and  in  the  evening,  desiring  His  face;  they 
have  no  reckoning  against  thee  at  all,  and  thou  hast  no 
reckoning  against  them  at  all ; — repulse  them  and  thou 
wilt  be  of  the  unjust. 

So  have  we  tried  some  of  them  by  others,  that  they 
may  say,  Are  these  those  unto  whom  God  has  been 
gracious  amongst  ourselves?  Does  not  God  know 
those  who  give  thanks? 

And  when  those  who  believe  in  our  signs  come  to 

thee,  say,  Peace  be  on  you!     God  hath  prescribed  for 

104 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  105 

Himself  mercy;  verily,  he  of  you  who  does  evil  in 
ignorance,  and  then  turns  again  and  does  right, — 
verily,  He  is  forgiving  and  merciful. 

Thus  do  we  detail  our  signs,  that  the  way  of  the 
sinners  may  be  made  plain.     .     .     . 

With  Him  are  the  keys  of  the  unseen.  None  knows 
them  save  He;  He  knows  what  is  in  the  land  and  in 
the  sea ;  and  there  falls  not  a  leaf  save  that  He  knows 
it;  nor  a  grain  in  the  darkness  of  the  earth,  nor  aught 
that  is  moist,  nor  aught  that  is  dry,  save  that  is  in  His 
perspicuous  Book. 

He  it  is  who  takes  you  to  Himself  at  night,  and 
knows  what  ye  have  gained  in  the  da}^ ;  then  He  raises 
you  up  again,  that  your  appointed  time  may  be  ful- 
filled ;  then  unto  Him  is  your  return,  and  then  will  He 
inform  you  of  what  ye  have  done. 

He  triumphs  over  His  servants;  He  sends  to  them 
guardian  angels,  until,  when  death  comes  to  any  one  of 
you,  our  messengers  take  him  away ;  they  pass  not  over 
any  one,  and  then  are  they  returned  to  God,  their  true 
sovereign. 

E.  H.  Palmer,  "  Qur'an  "  (Koran),  pt.  1,  p.  121. 

Say:  I  am  only  a  man  like  you.  It  is  revealed  to  me 
that  your  God  is  one  God;  act  uprightly,  then,  with 


io6  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

Him,  and  implore  His  pardon.  And  woe  to  those  who 
join  gods  with  God. 

And  if  God  had  pleased  He  had  surely  made  you  all 
one  people;  but  He  would  test  you  by  what  He  hath 
given  to  each.  Be  emulous,  then,  in  good  deeds.  To 
God  do  ye  all  return,  and  He  will  tell  you  concerning 
the  subjects  of  your  disputes. 

Mohammed  is  no  more  than  an  apostle;  other 
apostles  have  already  passed  away  before  him;  if,  then, 
he  die  or  be  slain,  will  ye  then  turn  upon  your  heels 
{i.  e.,  relapse  into  idolatry)  ? 

J.    M.    Rodwell,    "Koran,"    Surah    41,    5;    Surah 
6,  54;  Surah  3,  138;  Surah  2,  274. 


NOTHING  IS  HID  THAT  SHALL  NOT  BE 

MADE  MANIFEST 

The  Immanent  God 

Analogous  to  the  modern  scientific  conception  of  ether  is  the 
doctrine  of  God-immanent  developed  in  the  Bhagavadgita  over 
two  thousand  years  ago. 

I  will  declare  that  which  is  the  object  of  knowledge, 
knowing  which,  one  reaches  immortality;  the  highest 
Brahman,  having  no  beginning  nor  end,  which  cannot 
be  said  to  be  existent  or  non-existent.  It  has  hands 
and  feet  on  all  sides,  it  has  eyes,  heads,  and  faces  on  all 
sides,  it  has  ears  on  all  sides,  it  stands  pervading  every- 
thing in  the  world.  Possessed  of  the  qualities  of  all 
the  senses,  but  devoid  of  all  senses,  unattached,  it  sup- 
ports all,  is  devoid  of  qualities,  and  the  enjoyer  of 
qualities.  It  is  within  all  things  and  without  them ;  it 
is  movable  and  also  immovable;  it  is  unknowable 
through  its  subtlety;  it  stands  afar  and  near.  Not  dif- 
ferent in  different  things,  but  standing  as  though  dif- 
ferent, it  should  be  known  to  be  the  supporter  of  all 

things,  and  that  which  absorbs  and  creates  them.     It  is 

107 


io8  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

the  radiance  even  of  the  radiant  bodies ;  it  is  said  to  be 
beyond  darkness.  It  is  knowledge,  the  object  of 
knowledge,  that  which  is  to  be  attained  to  by  knowl- 
edge, and  placed  in  the  heart  of  all. 

K  T.  Telang,  "  Bkagavadgita,"  p.  103. 


YE  KNOW  NOT  WHAT  MANNER  OF  SPIRIT 

YE  ARE  OF 

Voices 

It  remained  for  Buddhism  in  India  to  develop  one  practical 
human  aspect  of  the  foregoing  philosophy,  namely,  that  the 
interplay  of  individual  personalities  often  affords  illuminating 
insights  into  a  larger  field  of  consciousness.  Unusually 
touching  is  the  following  instance  of  one  of  the  Brethren 
converted  by  an  old  woman's  piety. 

Now  a  certain  woman,  a  distinguished  follower  of 
the  faith,  had  for  thirty  years  and  more  administered 
to  the  wants  of  the  venerable  Assagutta.  And  at  the 
end  of  that  rainy  season  she  came  one  day  to  him,  and 
asked  whether  there  was  any  other  brother  staying 
with  him.  And  when  she  was  told  that  there  was  one, 
named  Nagasena,  she  invited  the  Elder,  and  Nagasena 
with  him,  to  take  their  midday  meal  the  next  day  at  her 
house.  And  the  Elder  signified,  by  silence,  his  con- 
sent. The  next  forenoon  the  Elder  robed  himself,  and 
taking  his  bowl  in  his  hand,  went  down,  accompanied 

by  Nagasena  as  his  attendant,  to  the  dwelling-place  of 

109 


no  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

that  disciple,  and  there  they  sat  down  on  the  seats  pre- 
pared for  them.  And  she  gave  to  both  of  them  food, 
hard  and  soft,  as  much  as  they  required,  waiting  upon 
them  with  her  own  hands.  When  Assagutta  had  fin- 
ished his  meal,  and  the  hand  w^as  withdrawn  from  the 
bowl,  he  said  to  Nagasena:  '*  Do  thou,  Nagasena,  give 
the  thanks  to  this  distinguished  lady."  And,  so  say- 
ing, he  rose  from  his  seat,  and  went  away. 

And  the  lady  said  to  Nagasena:  "  I  am  old,  friend 
Nagasena.  Let  the  thanksgiving  be  from  the  deeper 
things  of  the  faith." 

And  Nagasena,  in  pronouncing  the  thanksgiving  dis- 
course, dwelt  on  the  profounder  side  of  the  Higher 
Law,  not  on  matters  of  mere  ordinary  morality,  but  on 
those  relating  to  perfect  peace  and  calm.  And  as  the 
lady  sat  there  listening,  there  arose  in  her  heart  the  In- 
sight into  the  Truth,  clear  and  stainless,  which  per- 
ceives that  whatsoever  has  beginning,  that  has  the 
inherent  quality  of  passing  away.  And  Nagasena 
also,  when  he  had  concluded  that  thanksgiving  dis- 
course, felt  the  force  of  the  truths  he  himself  had 
preached,  and  he  too  arrived  at  insight — ^he  too  en- 
tered, as  he  sat  there,  upon  the  stream,  that  is  to  say, 
upon  the  first  stage  of  the  Excellent  Way. 

Then  the  venerable  Assagutta,  as  he  was  sitting  in 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  iii 

his  arbour,  was  aware  that  they  both  had  attained  to 
insight,  and  he  exclaimed:  "Well  done!  well  done, 
Nagasena!  by  one  arrow  shot  you  have  hit  two  noble 

quarries !  " 

T.    W.    Rhys    Davids,    "Questions   of    King 
Milinda,"  pt.  1,  p.  24. 


AND  YE  ARE  WITNESSES  OF  THESE 

THINGS 

Love  to  One's  Neighbor,  a  Jew 

The  central  idea  of  the  Masnavi  of  Jelal'uddin  Rumi  is  that 
the  only  true  basis  of  spiritual  religion  is  love,  and  that  all 
seeming  faith  and  piety  which  do  not  grow  from  love  profit 
nothing.  Like  all  true  mystics  Jelal  took  a  sacramental  view 
of  nature  and  human  nature.  The  Masnavi  has  been  called 
the  "  Divina  Commedia  "  or  "  Paradise  Lost "  of  Islam. 

Jelal  was  one  day  lecturing,  when  a  young  man  of 
distinction  came  in,  pushed  his  way,  and  took  a  seat 
higher  up  than  an  old  man,  one  of  the  audience. 

Jelal  at  once  remarked:  "  In  days  of  yore  it  was  the 
command  of  God,  that,  if  any  young  man  should  take 
precedence  of  an  elder,  the  earth  should  at  once  swal- 
low him  up ;  such  being  the  divine  punishment  for  that 
offence.  It  happened  that  one  morning  the  Victorious 
Lion  of  God,  AH,  son  of  Abu-Talib,  was  hasting  from 
his  house  to  perform  his  devotions  at  dawn  in  the 
mosque  of  the  Prophet.  On  his  way,  he  overtook  an 
old  man,  a  Jew.  Out  of  innate  nobility  and  politeness 
of  nature,  he  had  respect  for  the  Jew's  age,  and  would 
not  pass  him,  though  the  Jew's  pace  was  slow.     When 

112 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  113 

Ali  reached  the  mosque,  the  Prophet  was  already 
bowed  down  in  his  devotions,  and  was  about  to  chant 
the  "  Gloria  " ;  but,  by  God's  command,  Gabriel  came 
down,  laid  his  hand  on  the  Prophet's  shoulder,  and 
stopped  him,  lest  Ali  should  lose  the  merit  attaching  to 
his  being  present  at  the  opening  of  the  dawn  service; 
for  it  is  more  meritorious  to  perform  that  early  service 
once,  than  to  fulfil  the  devotions  of  a  hundred  years  at 
other  hours  of  the  day.  The  Prophet  has  said:  "  The 
first  act  of  reverence  at  dawn  worship  is  of  more  value 
than  the  world  and  all  that  is  therein.'* 

When  the  x\postle  of  God  had  concluded  his  wor- 
ship, offered  up  his  customary  prayers,  and  recited  his 
usual  lessons  from  the  Koran,  he  turned,  and  asked  of 
Gabriel  the  cause  of  his  interruption.  Gabriel  replied 
that  God  had  not  seen  fit  that  Ali  should  be  deprived  of 
the  merit  attaching  to  the  performance  of  the  first  por- 
tion of  the  dawn  worship,  through  the  respect  he  had 
shov/n  to  the  old  Jew  he  had  overtaken,  but  whom  he 
would  not  pass. 

"  Now,"  remarked  Jelal,  "  when  a  saint  like  Ali 
showed  so  much  respect  for  a  poor  old  misbelieving 
Jew,  and  when  God  viewed  his  respectful  consideration 
in  so  highly  favorable  a  manner,  you  may  all  infer  how 
He  will  view  any  honor  and  veneration  shown  to  an 


114         THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

elderly  saint  of  approved  piety,  whose  beard  has  grown 
grey  in  the  service  of  God,  and  whose  companions  are 
the  elect  of  their  Maker,  whose  chosen  servant  he  is; 
and  what  reward  He  will  mete  out  in  consequence. 
For,  in  truth,  glory  and  power  belong  to  God,  to  the 
Apostle,  and  to  the  believers,  as  God  hath  Himself  de- 
clared *  Unto  God  belongeth  the  power,  and  to  the 
apostle,  and  to  the  believers.'  " 

J.  W.  Redhouse,  "  Mcinevi."  p.  40. 


THEN  OPENED  HE  THEIR  MIND  THAT 
THEY    MIGHT   UNDERSTAND 

The  Spiritual  Body 

In  some  of  the  occult  Oriental  cults  there  is  a  prevalent 
belief  that  by  higher  knowledge  man  can  separate  his  soul  or 
astral  body  from  its  physical  counterpart  and  thus  transcend 
the  usual  bourn  of  space  and  time.  This  passage  from  one 
of  the  ancient  Upanishads  might  be  cited  as  authority  for  such 
a  dogma. 

This  body  is  mortal  and  always  held  by  death.  It 
is  the  abode  of  that  Self  which  is  immortal  and  without 
body.  When  in  the  body,  by  thinking  this  body  is  I 
and  I  am  this  body,  the  Self  is  held  by  pleasure  and 
pain.  So  long  as  he  is  in  the  body,  he  cannot  get  free 
from  pleasure  and  pain.  But  when  he  is  free  of  the 
body,  when  he  knows  himself  different  from  the  body, 
then  neither  pleasure  nor  pain  touches  him. 

The  wind  is  without  body,  the  cloud,  lightning,  and 
thunder  are  without  body,  without  hands,  feet,  etc. 
Now  as  these,  arising  from  this  heavenly  ether,  appear 
in  their  own  form,  as  soon  as  they  have  approached 
the  highest  light. 

"5 


ii6  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

Thus  does  that  serene  being,  arising  from  this  body, 
appear  in  its  own  form,  as  soon  as  it  has  approached 
the  highest  light,  the  knowledge  of  Self.  He  in  that 
state  is  the  highest  person.  He  moves  about  there 
laughing  or  eating,  playing  and  rejoicing  in  his  mind, 
be  it  with  women,  carriages,  or  relatives,  never  mind- 
ing that  body  into  which  he  was  born. 

Max  Muller,  "  Khandogya-upanishad,"  p.  140, 


THOU  ART  NOT  FAR  FROM  THE  KINGDOM 

OF  GOD 

The  Holy  Spirit 

In  another  Upanishad  the  following  conversation  is  reported 
of  Yagnavalkya  and  his  wife,  Maitreyi.  Unlike  the  orthodox 
Moslems  who  are  said  to  believe  that  women  have  no  souls, 
the  Brahmans  taught  that  women  were  capable  of  spiritual 
illumination. 

Now  if  a  man  departs  this  life  without  having  seen 
his  true  future  Hfe  in  the  Self,  then  that  Self,  not  being 
known,  does  not  receive  and  bless  him,  as  if  the  Veda 
had  not  been  read,  or  as  if  a  good  work  had  not  been 
done.  Nay,  even  if  one  who  does  not  know  that  Self 
should  perform  here  on  earth  some  great  holy  work,  it 
will  perish  for  him  in  the  end.  Let  a  man  worship  the 
Self  only  as  his  true  state.  If  a  man  worships  the  Self 
only  as  his  true  state,  his  work  does  not  perish,  for 
whatever  he  desires  that  he  gets  from  that  Self.    .    .    . 

And  Maitreyi  said:    "What  should  I  do  with  that 

by  which  I  do  not  become  immortal  ?     What  my  Lord 

knoweth  of  immortality,  tell  that  to  me." 

Yagnavalkya  replied :  "  Thou  who  art  truly  dear  to 

117 


ii8  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

me,  thou  speakest  dear  words.  Come,  sit  down,  I  will 
explain  it  to  thee,  and  mark  well  what  I  say.  Verily, 
a  husband  is  not  dear,  that  you  may  love  the  husband ; 
but  that  you  may  love  the  Self,  therefore  a  husband  is 
dear.  Verily,  a  wife  is  not  dear,  that  you  may  love  the 
wife ;  but  that  you  may  love  the  Self,  therefore  a  wife 
is  dear.  Verily,  sons  are  not  dear,  that  you  may  love 
the  sons ;  but  that  you  may  love  the  Self,  therefore  sons 
are  dear.  Verily,  wealth  is  not  dear,  that  you  may 
love  wealth;  but  that  you  may  love  the  Self,  therefore 
wealth  is  dear. 

"  Verily,  the  Brahman-class  is  not  dear,  that  you 
may  love  the  Brahman-class ;  but  that  you  may  love  the 
Self. 

"  Verily,  the  Kshatra-class  is  not  dear,  that  you  may 
love  the  Kshatra-class ;  but  that  you  may  love  the  Self. 

"  Verily,  the  worlds  are  not  dear,  that  you  may  love 
the  worlds ;  but  that  you  may  love  the  Self. 

"  Verily,  the  angels  are  not  dear,  that  you  may  love 
the  angels ;  but  that  you  may  love  the  Self. 

"  Verily,  creatures  are  not  dear,  that  you  may  love 
the  creatures ;  but  that  you  may  love  the  Self. 

"  Verily,  everything  is  not  dear  that  you  may  love 
everything;  but  that  you  may  love  the  Self,  therefore 
everything  is  dear. 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  119 

"  Verily,  the  Self  is  to  be  seen,  to  be  heard,  to  be 
perceived,  to  be  marked,  O  Maitreyi!  When  we  see, 
hear,  perceive,  and  know  the  Self,  then  all  this  is 
known." 

Max  Miiller,  "  Brihadaranyaka-upanishad,"  pp.  90,  109. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  IS  WITHIN  YOU 

Cosmic  Consciousness 

Nirvana,  greatest  of  Gotama's  teachings,  is  a  state  attainable 
in  this  life  by  those  who  elect  and  persistently  follow  the 
Path.  Nirvana  is  round  us  from  our  infancy,  an  encircling 
medium  of  which  we  grow  aware  only  through  religious 
enlightenment.  It  means  the  eternal  within  the  temporal, 
cosmic  consciousness,  a  heaven  here  and  now. 

If  thou  art  desirous  of  omniscience,  direct  thy  at- 
tention to  transcendent  wisdom;  then  betake  thyself  to 
the  wilderness  and  meditate  on  the  pure  law ;  by  it  thou 
shalt  acquire  the  transcendent  faculties. 

The  man  catches  the  meaning,  goes  to  the  wilder- 
ness, meditates  with  the  greatest  attention,  and,  as  he 
is  endowed  with  good  qualities,  ere  long  acquires  the 
five  transcendent  faculties. 

Similarly  all  disciples  fancy  having  reached  Nirvana, 
but  the  Gina  instructs  them  by  saying:  This  is  a  tem- 
porary repose,  no  final  rest. 

It  is  an  artifice  of  the  Buddhas  to  enunciate  this 

dogma.     There  is  no  real  Nirvana  without  all-know- 

ingness ;  try  to  reach  this. 

The  boundless  knowledge  of  the  three  paths  of  time, 

1 20 


THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE  121 

the  six  utmost  perfections,  voidness,  the  absence  of 
purpose  or  object,  the  absence  of  finiteness; 

The  idea  of  enhghtenment  and  the  other  laws  lead- 
ing to  Nirvana,  both  such  as  are  mixed  with  imperfec- 
tion and  such  as  are  exempt  from  it,  such  as  are  tran- 
quil and  comparable  to  ethereal  space ; 

The  four  exercises  to  develop  benevolence,  compas- 
sion, cheerful  sympathy,  and  equanimity,  and  the  four 
articles  of  sociability,  namely,  liberality,  affability,  pro- 
moting another's  interest,  and  pursuit  of  a  common 
aim,  as  well  as  the  laws  sanctioned  by  eminent  sages 
for  the  education  of  creatures ; 

He  who  knows  these  things  and  that  all  phenomena 
have  the  nature  of  illusion  and  dreams,  that  they  are 
pithless  as  the  stem  of  the  plantain,  and  similar  to  an 
echo ; 

And  who  knows  that  the  triple  world  throughout  is 
of  that  nature,  not  fast  and  not  loose,  he  knows  rest. 

He  who  considers  all  laws  to  be  alike,  void,  devoid 
of  particularity  and  individuality,  not  derived  from  an 
intelligent  cause ;  nay,  who  discerns  that  nothingness  is 
law; 

Such  a  one  has  great  wisdom  and  sees  the  whole  of 
the  law  entirely.  There  are  no  three  vehicles  by  any 
means ;  there  is  but  one  vehicle  in  this  world. 


122  THE  HIGHER  KNOWLEDGE 

All  laws  or  the  laws  of  all  are  alike,  equal,  for  all, 
and  ever  alike.  Knowing  this,  one  understands  im- 
mortal, blest  Nirvana. 

H.  Kern,  "  Saddharma-pundarika,"  p.  139. 


Life 


CAN  YE  NOT  DISCERN  THE  SIGNS  OF  THE 

TIMES  ? 

Conscious  Life 

The  ordered  beauty  of  the  world  of  Nature  suggests 
an  infinite  intelHgence  with  powers  of  action  such  as 
no  man  or  other  creature  possesses,  and  evolution, 
which  was  so  hotly  contested  by  the  theologians  of  a 
generation  ago,  suggests  the  beautiful  conception  of 
continued  action,  but  when  man  commences  to  specu- 
late as  to  the  nature  of  this  intelligence  which  rules  the 
universe,  however  much  of  a  theologian  he  may  be,  he 
is  driven  back  upon  materialistic  models,  and  his  deity 
cannot  rise  above  a  perfected  superman.  In  the  pres- 
ent state  of  human  evolution,  even  revelation  from  the 
deity  could  not  conceivably  take  any  other  form  than 
this,  for  man  with  such  senses  and  experiences  as  he 
has  been  provided  with,  could  not  understand  anything 
else. 

Science  can  readily  strip  away  from  any  earlier  sys- 
tem of   religion,  mythological   accounts   of  creation 

which  represent  the  state  of  natural  knowledge  when 

125 


126  LIFE 

the  system  was  growing,  and  can  disprove  or  reject 
accounts  of  natural  phenomena  which  are  now  known 
clearly  to  be  errors,  but  when  this  has  all  been  done  the 
real  kernel  still  remains  in  any  religious  system  worthy 
of  the  name.  Man  is  still  left  venerating  the  great 
causes  of  creation,  and  worshipping  at  the  shrine  of  an 
infinite  and  all-powerful  creator.  Nor  is  it  any  bar  to 
this  worship  that  he  possesses  no  rigorous  proof  nor 
exact  knowledge  in  terms  of  material  things.  The 
mysticism  only  stimulates  devotion,  and  urges  him  on- 
wards towards  higher  realization  of  divinity  and  ideal- 
ization of  all  that  is  highest  in  the  deity  that  he  personi- 
fies and  worships. 

To  such  a  worshipper  every  scientific  advance 
brings  only  a  more  beautiful  appreciation  of  the  divine 
in  nature,  and  he  strains  upwards  towards  it  in  his  own 
life,  and  is  impelled  by  his  religion  to  a  nobility  of  life 
and  character,  which  could  scarcely  arise  in  any  other 
wav. 

If  this  attribute  of  mind,  to  recognize  something  as 
the  highest  in  the  whole  range  of  consciousness  which 
compels  the  mind  towards  its  highest  efforts,  exists  in 
millions  of  the  most  highly  developed  of  mankind  there 
must  be  some  cause  for  it  other  than  ignorance. 
Surely  it  is  part  of  mental  evolution  towards  the  high- 


LIFE  127 

est — an  intensification  of  that  same  process  which  led 
creation  up  from  undifferentiated  matter  through  the 
long  course  of  organic  evolution  to  man.  Man  has 
now  become  aware  of  this  organic  evolution,  and  there 
is  a  consciousness  developing  in  regard  to  it  and  mak- 
ing for  social  progress,  which  is  rapidly  becoming  the 
latest  and  highest  development  of  religion.  Environ- 
ment, acting  as  a  directing  and  selecting  power  upon 
mutable  forms  of  matter,  and  lasting  through  long 
epochs  of  time,  finally  brought  man  upon  the  earth; 
purely  material  environment  cannot  raise  him  higher, 
but  in  religion  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  increased 
and  intensified  by  a  study  of  the  mind,  and  of  our  re- 
lationship and  duties  towards  other  minds,  we  see  thit 
factor  in  our  environment  which  will  lead  us  on  to 
higher  things. 

The  fact  that  the  creature  actually  in  process  of  evo- 
lution has  gained  consciousness  of  his  own  evolution 
will  give  a  definite  purpose  to  his  whole  social  system 
as  a  community,  and  will  enormously  increase  the 
velocity  in  future  generations  of  the  process  of  evolu- 
tion. 

Benj.  Moore,  "The  Origin  and  Nature  of  Life," 
p.  23  ff.,  N.  Y.,  1912.  (Copyright,  Henry  Holt 
&  Co.) 


IT  IS  GIVEN  UNTO  YOU  TO  KNOW  THE 
MYSTERIES  OF  THE  KINGDOM  OF  HEAVEN 

What  is  Your  Life?    It  is  Even  as  a  Vapor 

Life's  apparent  impermanence,  its  mysteries  of  origin  and 
purpose,  the  inexplicable  balance  of  forces  which  maintain  it 
for  a  little  while, — all  this  caused  the  upreachin^  mind  of  all 
races  to  grope  toward  the  light.  The  Alahabharata  sings  of 
this  age-long  enigma. 

The  body — is  it  not  like  foam 

The  tossing  wave  an  instant  cresting? 

In  it  the  spirit,  bird-like,  resting, 

Soon  flies  to  seek  another  home. 

In  this  thy  frail  abode,  so  dear. 

How  canst  thou  slumber  free  from  fear? 

Why  dost  thou  not  wake  up,  when  all 
Thy  watchful  enemies  ever  seek 
To  strike  thee  there  where  thou  art  weak, 
To  bring  about  thy  longed-for  fall? 

Thy  days  are  numbered, — all  apace 

Thy  years  roll  on, — thy  powers  decay. 

Why  dost  thou  vainly  then  delay, 

And  not  arise,  and  haste  awav 

To  some  unchanging  dwelling-place? 

128 


LIFE  129 

The  Watchtoiver  of  Wisdom 

As  men  who  climb  a  hill  behold 
The  plain  beneath  them  all  unrolled, 
And  thence  with  searching  eye  survey 
The  crowds  that  pass  along  the  way, 
So  those  on  wisdom's  mount  who  stand 
A  lofty  vantage-ground  command. 
They  thence  can  scan  the  world  below, 
Immersed  in  error,  sin  and  woe; 
Can  mark  how  mortals  vainly  grieve. 
The  true  reject,  the  false  receive. 
The  good  forsake,  the  bad  embrace. 
The  substance  flee  and  shadows  chase. 
But  none  who  have  not  gained  that  height, 
Can  good  and  ill  discern  aright. 


What  Determines  the  Character  of  Actions 

'Tis  from  the  soul,  the  man  within. 
That  actions  all  their  value  win; 
No  outward  state,  whate'er  it  be. 
Affects  an  action's  quality. 


I30  LIFE 

Would  he  not  sin,  a  Brahman  sage 
Who  slew  within  a  hermitage? 
Bring  gifts  no  fruit,  howe'er  profuse, 
Unless  bestowed  by  a  recluse? 

J.    Muir,   "  Metrical   Translationi   from   Sanskrit 
Writers,"  p.  26. 


IF  ANY  MAN  EAT  OF  THIS  BREAD  HE 
SHALL  LIVE  FOREVER 

Life  and  Death 

To  mystics  life  and  death  are  equally  transitory,  being  part 
of  a  larger  cycle.  To  the  Taoists  immoriaiity  is  more  than  a 
mere  word. 

Life  is  a  state  which  follows  upon  Death.  Death 
is  a  state  which  precedes  Life.  Which  of  us  under- 
stands the  laws  that  govern  their  succession? 

The  life  of  man  is  the  resultant  of  forces.  The  ag- 
gregation of  these  forces  is  life ;  their  dispersion,  death. 
If,  then,  Life  and  Death  are  but  consecutive  states  of 
existence,  what  cause  for  sorrow  have  I? 

And  so  it  is  that  all  things  are  but  phases  of  unity. 
What  men  delight  in  is  the  spiritual  essence  of  life. 
What  they  loathe  is  the  material  corruption  of  death. 
But  this  state  of  corruption  gives  place  to  that  state  of 
spirituality,  and  that  state  of  spirituality  gives  place  in 
turn  to  this  state  of  corruption.  Therefore  we  may 
say  that  all  in  the  universe  is  comprised  in  unity;  and 
therefore  the  inspired  among  us  have  adopted  unity  as 
their  criterion. 

H.  A.  Giles,  "  Gems  from  Chinese  L,iterature/'  p.  21. 


O  THOU  OF  LITTLE  FAITH  WHEREFORE 
DIDST  THOU  DOUBT? 

A  Mohammedan  Legend 

Because  Jesus  treated  religion  and  life  as  one  and  the  same 
thing,  the  vitality  of  his  faith  impressed  those  Mohammedans 
to  whom  his  non-sectarian  appeal  came  in  terms  not  of 
theology  but  of  healing. 

*'  The  house  of  Jesu  was  the  banquet  of  men  of  heart, 

Ho!  afflicted  one,  quit  not  this  door! 

From  all  sides  the  people  ever  thronged. 

Many  blind  and  lame,  and  halt  and  afflicted, 

To  the  door  of  the  house  of  Jesu  at  dawn, 

That  with  his  breath  he  might  heal  their  ailments. 

As  soon  as  he  had  finished  his  orisons. 

That  holy  one  would  come  forth  at  the  third  hour; 

He  viewed  those  impotent  folk,  troop  by  troop, 

Sitting  at  his  door  in  hope  and  expectation ; 

He  spoke  to  them,  saying,  '  O  stricken  ones ! 

The  desires  of  all  of  you  have  been  granted  by  God ; 

Arise,  walk  without  pain  or  affliction, 

Acknowledge  the  mercy  and  beneficence  of  God!  * 

Then  all,  as  camels  whose  feet  are  shackled, 

132 


LIFE  133 

When  you  loose  their  feet  in  the  road, 
Straightway  rush  in  joy  and  delight  to  the  halting- 
place, 
So  did  they  run  upon  their  feet  at  his  command." 

S.  M.  Zwemer,  "  The  Moslem  Christ." 

And  it  is  not  for  a  believer,  man  or  woman,  to  have 
any  choice  in  their  affairs,  when  God  and  His  Apostle 
have  decreed  a  matter;  and  whoever  disobeyeth  God 
and  His  Apostle  hath  erred  with  palpable  error. 

J.  M.  Rodwell,  "  Koran,"  Surah  33,  37. 


THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  IS  AT  HAND 

Nearer  te  the  Source  of  Life 

That  spiritual  life  is  just  as  real  as  physical  life  is  pro- 
claimed by  Hsuan-yang  Zze  (1280-1367  A.  D.),  a  follower  of 
the  Tao  and  a  contemporary  of  Dante. 

The  Heaven-honored  One  says,  "  All  you,  Heaven- 
endowed  men,  who  wish  to  be  instructed  about  the 
Perfect  Tao,  the  Perfect  Tao  is  very  recondite,  and  by 
nothing  else  but  Itself  can  it  be  described.  Since  ye 
wish  to  hear  about  it,  ye  cannot  do  so  by  the  hearing  of 
the  ear; — that  which  eludes  both  the  ears  and  eves  is 

'  ml 

the  True  Tao;  what  can  be  heard  and  seen  perishes, 

and  only  this  survives.     There  is  much  that  you  have 

not  yet  learned,  and  especially  you  have  not  acquired 

this !     Till  you  have  learned  what  the  ears  do  not  hear, 

how  can  the  Tao  be  spoken  about  at  all?  " 

The  Heaven-honored  One  says,  "  Sincerity  is  the 

first  step  towards  the  knowledge  of  the  Tao;  it  is  by 

silence  that  that  knowledge  is  maintained;  it  is  with 

gentleness  that  the  Tao  is  employed.     The  employment 

134 


LIFE  135 

01  sincerity  looks  like  stupidity;  the  employment  of 
silence  looks  like  difficulty  of  utterance;  the  employ- 
ment of  gentleness  looks  like  want  of  ability.  But 
having  attained  to  this,  you  may  forget  all  bodily 
form ;  you  may  forget  your  personality ;  you  may  for- 
get that  you  are  forgetting.'* 

"  He  who  has  taken  the  first  steps  towards  the 
knowledge  of  the  Tao  knows  where  to  stop;  he  who 
maintains  the  Tao  in  himself  knows  how  to  be  dili- 
gently vigilant ;  he  who  employs  It  knows  what  is  most 
subtle. 

"  When  one  knows  what  is  most  subtle,  the  light  of 
intelligence  grows  around  him ;  when  he  can  know  how 
to  be  diligently  vigilant,  his  sage  wisdom  becomes  com- 
plete ;  when  he  knows  where  to  stop,  he  is  grandly  com- 
posed and  restful. 

"  When  he  is  grandly  composed  and  restful,  his  sage 
wisdom  becomes  complete ;  when  his  sage  wisdom  be- 
comes complete,  the  light  of  intelligence  grows  around 
him ;  when  the  light  of  intelligence  grows  around  him, 
he  is  one  with  the  Tao. 

"  This  is  the  condition  which  is  styled  the  True  For- 
getfulness; — a  forgetting  which  does  not  forget;  a  for- 
getting of  what  cannot  be  forgotten. 
. "  That  which  cannot  be  forgotten  is  the  True  Tao. 


/ 


136  LIFE 

The  Tao  is  in  heaven  and  earth,  but  heaven  and  earih 
are  not  conscious  of  It.  Whether  It  seem  to  have 
feehngs  or  to  be  without  them,  It  is  always  one  and 
the  same." 

J.   IvCgge,   Yu   Shu   King,   "The   Classic  of   the 
Pivot  of  Jade,"  texts  of  Taoism,  pt.  2,  p.  265. 


BEHOLD,  I  HAVE  FORETOLD  YOU  ALL 

THINGS 

The  Stuff  of  the  World  and  the  Fountain  of  Creation 

The  Persian  mystics  conceive  of  physical  life  as  a  necejssary 
basis  for  the  higher  life  of  the  Spirit.  Thus  a  human  body  is 
but  a  wonderful  apparatus  for  the  evolution  of  a  soul.  They 
view  all  life  as  but  ripples  of  the  imperishable  substance  of 
God. 

Every  form  you  see  has  its  archetype  in  the  placeless 
world ; 

If  the  form  perished,  no  matter,  since  its  original  is 
everlasting. 

Every  fair  shape  you  have  seen,  every  deep  saying  you 
have  heard, 

Be  not  cast  down  that  it  perished ;  for  that  is  not  so. 

Whereas  the  spring-head  is  undying,  its  branch  gives 
water  continually ; 

Since  neither  can  cease,  why  are  you  lamenting? 

Conceive  the  Soul  as  a  fountain,  and  these  created 
things  as  rivers: 

While  the  fountain  flows,  the  rivers  run  from  it. 

Put  grief  out  of  your  head  and  keep  quaffing  this  river- 
water; 

137 


138  LIFE 

Do  not  think  of  the  water  failing;  for  this  water  is 
without  end. 

From  the  moment  you  came  into  the  world  of  being, 

A  ladder  was  placed  before  you  that  you  might  escape. 

First  you  were  mineral,  later  you  turned  to  plant, 

Then  you  became  animal:  how  should  this  be  a  secret 
to  you? 

Afterwards  you  were  made  man,  with  knowledge,  rea- 
son, faith; 

Behold  the  body,  which  is  a  portion  of  the  dust-pit, 
how  perfect  it  has  grown ! 

When  you  have  travelled  on  from  man,  you  will  doubt- 
less become  an  angel: 

After  that  you  are  done  with  this  earth:  your  station  is 
in  heaven. 

Pass  again  even  from  angelhood:  enter  the  ocean, 

That  your  drop  may  become  a  sea  which  is  a  hundred 
seas  of  "  Oman." 

Leave  this  "  Son,"  say  ever  "  One  "  with  all  your  soul ; 

If  your  body  has  aged,  what  matter,  when  the  soul  is 
young  ? 

R.  A.  Nicholson,  "Divani  Shamsi  Tabriz,"  p.  47. 


EVEN  SO  KNOW  I  THE  FATHER 

Omnipresence 

This  sufi  conception  is  not  wholly  original  to  Asia  Minor,  since 
it  is  akin  to  the  Upanishad  doctrine  of  India  and  has  affinities 
with  Neo-platonism  and  even  with  some  early  Christian 
mysticism.  Thus  one  spiritual  life  pulses  through  all  human 
intellects  the  world  over. 

The  knowing  Self  is  not  born,  it  dies  not;  it  sprang 
from  nothing,  nothing  sprang  from  it.  The  Ancient 
is  unborn,  eternal,  everlasting;  he  is  not  killed,  though 
the  body  is  killed. 

If  the  killer  thinks  that  he  kills,  if  the  killed  thinks 
that  he  is  killed,  they  do  not  understand;  for  this  one 
does  not  kill,  nor  is  that  one  killed. 

The  Self,  smaller  than  small,  greater  than  great,  is 
hidden  in  the  heart  of  that  creature.  A  man  who  is 
free  from  desires  and  free  from  grief  sees  the  majesty 
of  the  Self  by  the  grace  of  the  Creator. 

Though  sitting  still,  he  walks   far;  though  lying 

down,  he  goes  everywhere.     Who,  save  myself,  is  able 

to  know  that  God  who  rejoices  and  rejoices  not  ? 

139 


140  LIFE 

The  wise  who  knows  the  Self  as  bodiless  within  the 
bodies,  as  unchanging  among  changing  things,  as  great 
and  omnipresent,  does  never  grieve. 

That  Self  cannot  be  gained  by  the  Sacred  Book  nor 
by  understanding,  nor  by  much  learning.  He  whom 
the  Self  chooses,  by  him  the  Self  can  be  gained.  The 
Self  chooses  him  (his  body)  as  his  own. 

But  he  who  has  not  first  turned  away  from  his  wick- 
edness, who  is  not  tranquil,  and  subdued,  or  whose 
mind  is  not  at  rest,  he  can  never  obtain  the  Self  even 
by  knowledge. 

Who  then  knows  where  He  is,  He  to  whom  all 
classes  are,  as  it  were,  but  food,  and  death  itself  a  con- 
diment ? 

Know  the  Self  to  be  sitting  in  the  chariot,  the  body 
to  be  the  chariot,  the  intellect  the  charioteer,  and  the 
mind  the  reins. 

The  senses  they  call  the  horses,  the  objects  of  the 
senses  their  roads.  When  he,  the  Highest  Self,  is  in 
union  with  the  body,  the  senses,  and  the  mind,  then 
wise  people  call  him  the  Enjoyer. 

He  who  has  no  understanding  and  whose  mind,  the 
reins,  is  never  firmly  held,  his  senses,  horses,  are  un- 
manageable, like  vicious  horses  of  a  charioteer. 

But  he  who  has  understanding  and  whose  mind  is 


LIFE  141 

always  firmly  held,  his  senses  are  under  control,  like 
good  horses  of  a  charioteer. 

He  who  has  no  understanding,  who  is  unmindful 
and  always  impure,  never  reaches  that  place,  but  enters 
into  the  round  of  births. 

But  he  who  has  understanding,  who  is  mindful  and 
always  pure,  reaches  indeed  that  place,  from  whence 
he  is  not  born  again. 

But  he  who  has  understanding  for  his  charioteer, 
and  who  holds  the  reins  of  the  mind,  he  reaches  the 
end  of  his  journey,  and  that  is  the  highest  place  of 
Vishnu. 

Beyond  the  senses  there  are  the  objects,  beyond  the 
objects  there  is  the  mind,  beyond  the  mind  there  is  the 
intellect,  the  Great  Self  is  beyond  the  intellect. 

That  Self  is  hidden  in  all  beings  and  does  not  shine 
forth,  but  it  is  seen  by  subtle  seers  through  their  sharp 
and  subtle  intellect. 

Max  Miiller,  "  Katha-upanishad,"  p.  11. 


BUT  MY  WORDS  SHALL  NOT  PASS  AWAY 

The  Pulse  of  Life 

Even  when  all  is  over,  it  will  begin  again,  this  life-process, 
whether  here  or  on  a  distant  planet  in  some  unknown  cranny 
of  boundless  space.  Mankind  is  subject  also,  perhaps,  to  the 
same  indefinite  renewal.  And  thus  the  untutored  Maori  of 
New  Zealand  stand  on  the  same  shore  of  limitless  wonder  as 
the  greatest  seers  and  scientists  present  or  past. 

Seeking,  earnestly  seeking  in  the  gloom. 

Searching — yes,  on  the  coastline — 

On  the  bounds  of  light  of  day. 

Looking  into  night 

Night  had  conceived 

The  seed  of  night. 

The  heart,  the  foundation  of  night, 

Had  stood  forth  the  self -existing 

Even  in  the  gloom — 

The  sap  and  succulent  parts, 

The  life  pulsating, 

And  the  cup  of  life. 

The  shadows  screen 

The  faintest  gleam  of  light 

The  procreating  power, 

142 


LIFE  143 

The  ecstasy  of  life  first  known. 

And  joy  of  issuing  forth, 

From  silence  into  sound, 

Thus  the  progeny 

Of  the  Great  extending 

Filled  the  heaven's  expanse ; 

The  chorus  of  life 

Rose  and  swelled  into  ecstasy, 

Then  rested 

In  bliss  of  calm  and  quiet. 

J.  White,  "Ancient  History  of  the  Maori,"  Vol.  1, 
p.  152.  (Quoted  in  R.  B.  Nixon,  "Oceanic 
Mythology,"  "  Mythology  of  All  Races/'  Vol. 
9,  p.  27,  Boston,  1916.) 


r;'""  III  I  m"!!",'"""'  Semmary-Speer 


Library 


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